Question of the Day: Gordon or Butler?

Sometime around the weeks leading up to the April 1st Opening Day of the 2007 MLB season, if I posed this question to anyone, I would have been laughed at and banned from ever participating in baseball conversations, let alone fantasy leagues.

However, now that we have the benefit of hindsight, this question is as legit as it gets. Who would you rather have for now and for the future; Billy Butler or Alex Gordon? Well, the easiest way to determine this is to look at the stats;

Alex Gordon's stats through Friday's games;

AB	HR	AVG	RBI	R	SB
366	8	.243	37	44	10

Billy Butler's stats through Friday's games;

AB	HR	AVG	RBI	R	SB
159	4	.296	30	16	0

Now, let's first keep this in perspective. The fact that we can have this conversation alone bodes well for the future of the Kansas City Royals. Regardless of who the better prospect is, the Royals have a very bright future. Going back to the beginning of the season, Baseball America ranked Alex Gordon as the 2nd best prospect in the entire minor leagues, while Butler was ranked a "lowly" 25th on the annual rankings. So, did BBA get it wrong? Not necessarily.

While Gordon has looked lost at times at the plate, he is a very good defensive player at a position that is not exactly loaded with offensive fire power. It certainly isn't the weakest position around, but when comparing a 3B to an OF (or perhaps even just a DH in Butler's case), the 3B certainly gets a few more points for the positional need. Couple that with the fact that Gordon already has more stolen bases this season than Butler will ever have in his entire career, so he is surely the more "complete" player.

But, Billy Butler has accumulated offensive numbers that either compare or surpass Gordon's in 43% of the at bats. That is production that is tough to argue with! Unfortunately for fantasy baseball enthusiasts, BBA takes into consideration factors, or "tools", that are completely irrelevant to a fantasy squad. Sure, Gordon has a good arm and plays excellent defense -- but, who cares? A fantasy team does not score points based on those factors, thus BBA rankings are not necessarily the most legit ranking system to use when analyzing fantasy baseball prospects.

If the trends continue they way they have been so far this season, then Butler is the guy who will help your team more over the long-haul. Do keep in mind that Butler is playing this well at 21-years old while Gordon is 23. That doesn't sound like much, but in the end it might give light to the fact that Butler's ceiling is higher as batters tend not to hit their prime until they are 27-years old.

If I'm drafting today, I have Butler slightly higher on my list than Gordon, but points have to be given to Gordon based on his position.