If the St. Louis Cardinals are the jilted lover, consider Alex Gordon their potential rebound.
On the heels of the news Friday that outfielder Jason Heyward turned down a potential return to the team in favor of an eight-year, $185 million deal from the rival Chicago Cubs, the Cardinals have now turned their attention to the three-time All-Star Gordon, according to a report by Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports.
Gordon, 31, hit 13 home runs and 48 RBIs on a .271/.377/.432 slash line in 104 regular season games for the Royals last season. While not quite the elite defender that Heyward is, Gordon can still provide Gold Glove-level defense in the outfield (see: Exhibit A), having won four of them in the last five seasons.
The Nebraska native is, in fact, tied to draft-pick compensation, but Heyward’s relatively cheap deal has now set a sensible offseason market for corner outfielders, meaning that Gordon could potentially be had by the Cardinals for a reasonable price.
Complicating matters, however, is that the Cardinals already have the veteran Matt Holliday firmly entrenched in left field, Gordon’s preferred position. Should he be tasked with filling Heyward’s old post in right field at Busch Stadium, Gordon could suffer from some growing pains as he has only made three career starts in right over his nine-year career.
But with St. Louis less than 250 miles away from Gordon’s current quarters in Kansas City (where he is not expected to return to) and the Cardinals being in full revenge mode now, don’t be surprised if general manager John Mozeliak lands his man.
Image Credit: Peter G. Aiken-USA TODAY Sports
H/T theScore
