Alex Gordon: AL MVP candidate?
By Brad Rowland
In the traditional sense, a player with a .281 batting average and 15 home runs in more than three-fourths of a season of Major League Baseball can’t be a candidate for the league’s Most Valuable Player award. Both statistics are certainly within the realm of positive performance, but in previous decades, that would be the end of the discussion, almost regardless of a player’s contributions in other facets of the game. Fortunately for Kansas City Royals outfielder Alex Gordon, the baseball community is better informed across the board at this stage, and as a result, his incredible value is relatively easy to measure.
The ability to defend is a significantly undervalued trait in today’s game, at least by the casual viewer, and that is the area in which Gordon is absolutely elite. Gordon, who carries 220 pounds on a 6-foot-1 frame with solid athleticism, leads the American League in defensive runs saved (DRS) with 22, and he soundly leads the league in UZR (ultimate zone rating) at 22.4 for the 2014 season. Both numbers are “subjective” in nature, but with statistical advancements, they are making it to the mainstream, and Gordon has been dominant defensively.
In addition to those two metrics, the 30-year-old Gordon also sits third in the American League in overall defense by FanGraphs and fourth in AL in defensive WAR (wins above replacement) by Baseball-Reference, and in short, he is valued as one of the best defensive outfielders in all of baseball. Gordon’s trajectory into being an elite defensive outfielder is an odd one as well, as he came up as a prospect while playing third base, but he combines a unique blend of range, arm talent and instincts that is virtually unmatched in today’s game.
Of course, Alex Gordon is also a well above-average player with the bat in his hands. To describe him with batting average and home run totals (both of which are still quite solid) would be underselling his gifts, and Gordon has produced a .355 on-base percentage that ranks him 20th in the American League. He uses a quality batting eye to accumulate a great deal of free passes (8.8% walk rate), and when combined with quality power numbers (15 home runs, .447 slugging percentage), Gordon lands in the top 25 players in the AL in wRC+, which measures overall performance at the plate.
Not to be outdone by his glove or his bat, Gordon continues his overall prowess by being a top-tier base-runner. For the season, he has only eight stolen bases, so the majority of the public would simply gloss over that part of Gordon’s game, but he ranks 11th in the American League in overall base-running as measured by FanGraphs, and their metric references him as a plus-runner despite the lack of stolen base potential.
The MVP award, in a traditional sense, has virtually always been awarded to the best player on one of the best teams in either league, and while that probably should not be a requirement (at least in my mind), Gordon does fit the bill. After an up-and-down season, the Kansas City Royals now hold a 1.5-game lead over the Detroit Tigers in the AL Central division, and without much deliberation, it is clear that Alex Gordon has been far and away the most valuable player on the Royals roster this season.
To be quite honest, the American League MVP award is likely a race between Angels outfielder Mike Trout and Mariners starting pitcher Felix Hernandez, but that doesn’t change the fact that Gordon has been arguably as valuable as either member of the leading duo. As of this post, Gordon has “earned” 5.6 wins above replacement as measured by FanGraphs and 5.5 wins above replacement as measured by Baseball-Reference. That all-encompassing statistic places Gordon third in the AL (behind only Trout and Hernandez) by FanGraphs and sixth in the AL by Baseball-Reference, and that tells the story in a nutshell.
It is extremely likely that Alex Gordon will not finish in the top-3 (or really, the top-5) among players in the voting for the American League MVP, but if he doesn’t, it will be a mistake by the electorate. Because of his unique skill set, Gordon will continue to be vastly underrated throughout the length of his career, but this season, he has put together a phenomenal profile, and with that, Alex Gordon should be in firm MVP consideration.