In K.C., Sam Mellinger noted the Royals yesterday signed LF Alex Gordon to a franchise-record $72M contract, making him "likely a Royal for life." No player has "greater symbolized the Royals’ rise from charred rubble to championship rings like Gordon, and that continues now." Mellinger: "The perfect ballplayer is now the perfect Royal." The Royals "used to be defined by awful management and bad luck." Now, it is the "complete opposite" (KANSASCITY.com, 1/6).
QUESTION & ANSWER: The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly notes former Blue Jays GM Alex Anthopoulos is reportedly joining the Dodgers' front office, and though it is "not clear" what title he will have, he will be "some sort of assistant" to Dodgers GM Farhan Zaidi. Anthopoulos had "plenty of job offers, in and out of the game," upon his departure from the Blue Jays. Kelly: "It raises a question -- how hard did [Blue Jays President & CEO] Mark Shapiro have to come at Anthopoulos to persuade him to quit a team he'd built?" (GLOBE & MAIL, 1/7).
COMMUNITY OUTREACH: Barclays Center CEO Brett Yormark said of how he plans to draw more Islanders fans, "We have to continue to market aggressively, we've got to continue to do community outreach and humanize the players and get them to the grassroots level, and we have to create a sampling environment, getting people to experience hockey live." He said the venue in the third week of January will "kick off a multifaceted, seven-figure marketing campaign that gets people excited about this season and the run to the playoffs and next season." Yormark: "A lot of people don't get excited about hockey when it starts in October. The enthusiasm rises in January, and most teams experience between a 10% to 20% lift [in attendance]" (CRAINSNEWYORK.com, 1/5).
