The thing that makes the Gordon decision even more challenging is that if KC is serious about competing next year, it needs to bring back Gordon or replace him with a quality, proven hitter.

And the FA market is filled with guys around the same age as Alex, likely to cost around the same amount of money.

Is Zimmer going to be ready for the big leagues next year?

This team is going to get blown up in 2017/18 time frame anyways. Gordon for 4 years really isn't that big of a risk.

I think (and I could be a dumbass, that's certainly a possibility) that we should probably think of Gordon and Zobrist in line with the guys whose contracts will expire in 2-3 years. If we REALLY want to keep Cain, for example, does that mean letting Gordon sign a large deal with another team so we have that option?

It's why even though it appears we might be able to afford to retain Gordon and Zobrist in the short term, I'll trust in Dayton if we wind up keeping neither of them.

Would be really nice if Gordon would accept the 1-year option and if Zobrist would re-sign for a short term deal as well. I know he probably wants a 4-year deal, but we can't do that to ourselves the way we did with Infante. There are too many difficult decisions at hand.

If he's healthy. I talked more about it in the official offseason repository.

He likely has a low innings limit that would keep him from pitching from the rotation for a full season. Likely tops out around 100-120 innings

Thanks, I'll check it out.

The thing to keep in mind is that the Royals awful and ugly TV deal ends in 2019. IMO, Glass should take the hits of resigning Zobrist, Young and Gordon, knowing full well that this team will continue to compete for the next several years.

And once they negotiate a new TV deal, which will pay them in more accordance with the other MLB's teams, he'll gain any lost revenue back AND be able to keep guys like Esky, Hosmer, Moose and Cain lifetime Royals.

Unfortunately, the TV deal lasts through 2019. The good news is that the Royals and network should be looking at extending that deal at the end of next year if the Cardinals tv deal is any indication. (They signed a deal for 2018-2033 for $1bn in 2015. One could reasonably assume that we can sign a deal for 2020 and beyond in 2017. Additionally, that deal adjusted the rates of some of the existing years for the cardinals.) The Royals pricing power also appears to be strong given local ratings.

One additional thought: after negotiating a new TV deal, Mr. Glass will have effectively maximized the value of his investment in the Royals and will be presented with his best opportunity to sell the team.

I don't know that there's a scenario where Hosmer and Cain and or moose are royals foe life. Iirc, moose and how are Boras clients and if that's the case, once they hit free agency, the yankees, dodgers etc just have too much spending power

Escobar and Cain will be 32. We will have gotten their best WAR years out of them for cheap for the most part. Moose could be a likely one to keep. Hosmer is gone. Him being a Boras contract, young (28) hitting free agency, would put up bigger power numbers in a bandbox, potential for endorsements, etc. He is going to get paid and gone - New York, LA, somebody is going to open the check book big time for Hosmer.

While there's no way the Royals will get close to the $250 million per year that the Dodgers receive annually from their Time Warner deal, the Royals should get a deal similar to the Diamondback and Cards, certainly in excess of $75 million per year, which is $55 million more than they currently receive.

IMO, there's no reason whatsoever for letting those guys walk, especially considering there's ample time to win at least one more ALCS, if not World Series.

Like ChiefsCountry just said, Hosmer is very unlikely to stay a royal. When you're into that type of large deal for a small market team, it's just not feasible

Similar to how the Cards had to do with Pujols. Although he did sign a better deal his first pop at FA, which allowed the Cards to have him for so far under WAR production value.

What's so great about Hosmer? He's never made an ASG, he was 9th/20 qualifiers in fWAR among all 1B. He was 12th in wRC+. He's a fine player but he's about a average among all 1B and his hitting profile (extreme ground balls and no walks) isn't improving. He will have to get better to be priced out of here

That's fine. But IMO, the Royals should resign Gordon, Zobrist and Young, then recoup any losses with their new TV deal.

If Ned returns, this team has a two year window at minimum to return to the ALCS if not the World Series.