Summary: It looks as if the Kansas
City Royals have a bonafide star in the making on the team this year. Kansas
City Royals' rookie sensation Alex Gordon is labeled "The Sure Thing" by Sports
Illustrated in its 3/26 edition and is the first ballplayer featured.
Unfortunately, SI says the Royals as a team are ranked 29th out of 30 major
league teams.
8 Who May be Great: Alex Gordon
To
understand the significance of the moment, two years ago, when Alex Gordon first
met George Brett, consider where Gordon had come from. He grew up in Lincoln,
Neb., and often made the three-hour trip to Kansas City for Royals games. He
spent nights taking batting practice in the family basement, smacking balls into
a rug hung from the ceiling, not far from posters of Brett.
Through high school and college, Gordon
played third base (just like Brett), batted lefthanded (just like Brett) and
accumulated hits at a prodigious pace (just like Brett). Gordon was the second
overall pick of the 2005 draft, taken by the Royals, the same team that had
drafted Brett in 1971. Gordon even has a brother named Brett, and it is not a
coincidence.
So one can imagine Gordon's reaction when he walked into a conference room at
Kaufmann Stadium in the summer of 2005 and there, awaiting his arrival, was
Brett himself. At the time, Gordon and Royals management were negotiating his
signing bonus -- it would end up at $4 million, the highest ever for a Kansas
City draftee -- and they were haggling over the final $200,000. Brett, a team
vice president, made an offer to Gordon and his agent. "I said, 'Here's what
I'll do,'" recalls Brett. "I'll write you a check for the difference, out of my
own pocket. But instead of up front, I'll give you 10 grand for 20 years. I'll
do that for you, just because I want to watch you play. I've heard so much s---
about you, I'll do it.' And I would have."
It was an unusual proposal, and Gordon politely declined. Brett tried again, and
then again, but Gordon was steadfast. He respected Brett and was flattered by
his interest, but he wasn't so starry-eyed that he'd accept less than what he
thought he was worth. "It was a pretty funny conversation," says Gordon. "They
basically locked me in a room, and he was trying to convince me to sign."
Laments Brett, "I thought I was making progress, but" -- and here he laughs --
"I think he might have listened more if I wasn't employed by the Royals."
Gordon finally signed, but not until September, and now, less than two years
later, the 23-year-old prospect is viewed as the great hope of a Royals
franchise that last made it to the postseason 22 years ago. Though he has faced
only Double A competition so far, Gordon has been described as Eric Chavez with
more plate discipline, Lance Berkman with more speed (Gordon stole 22 bases last
year) and Joe Mauer with more power. And, of course, there are the inevitable
comparisons with Brett. "He's a total stud, a five-tool guy," says one AL West
scout. "And he's a gamer. I saw him last year, and he dived headfirst into first
base to try to beat the throw. In Double A ball!"
Find this article at:
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/baseball/mlb/03/22/8great.gordon
