Royals sign Gordon to multiyear contract

SURPRISE, AZ (March 30, 2012) — The Kansas City Royals today announced the club has reached an agreement on a multi-year contract with outfielder Alex Gordon.  The contract includes four guaranteed years through the 2015 season, then a player option for the 2016 campaign.  Consistent with club policy, financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The 28-year-old Gordon won both the Les Milgram Royals Player of the Year as well as his first Rawlings Gold Glove Award in 2011.  He batted .303 (185-for-611) with 45 doubles, four triples, 23 home runs, 87 RBI and 101 runs scored in 151 games for Kansas City.  Gordon was one of five players in the Major Leagues to post a greater than .300 average, 45 or more doubles and 20 or more home runs, joining the Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera, the Red Sox’ Jacoby Ellsbury and Adrian Gonzalez, and the Yankees’ Robinson Cano.  In his first full season as a full-time outfielder, he led the Majors with 20 outfield assists, also setting a single-season franchise record.

The Royals’ first-round selection (second overall) in 2005 out of the University of Nebraska, Gordon and his wife, Jamie, reside in Lincoln, Neb., with their one-year-old son, Max.