The Kansas City Royals, who admittedly blew it by taking Alex Gordon with the No. 2 pick in the 2005 draft instead of several All-Stars, are hoping to now salvage their choice by moving Gordon to left field.

They demoted Gordon to Triple-A Omaha, and told him he will be moved from third base to the outfield.

The Royals, who bypassed All-Stars Ryan Braun, Ryan Zimmerman and Troy Tulowitzki in the draft, believe that Gordon's defensive deficiencies may be responsible for his offensive woes. He made four errors in just 10 games this year

"He's played it before, a long time ago,'' Royals manager Troy Hillman told reporters. "It's been a while. If I had to guess, as long as it goes OK, the majority of it would be in left."



Gordon is hitting just .194 with one homer and one RBI in 12 games this season. He lost his starting job to Alberto Callaspo.

"We need Alex to play,'' Hillman says. "He is going to go down and do some work in left field, get some playing time in the field, some at first base. Not going to ditch third entirely, but I'm hoping that a change in position will give him an opportunity to swing the bat a little bit better. ...

"We will see how it goes."

By Bob Nightengale