Hocking and Punto were a range of outcomes for part-time players. One bad, one good. No, I didn't point out that Hocking was the bad outcome, I assumed that was implied.
If you don't want to use WAR, then choose a metric of your liking.
But the ultimate point here is threefold:
1. What great revelation would have come out of seeing Gordon for an additional 75-100 PAs and how would it have swayed opinion so much that it makes this a hill to die on?
2. How hard are you willing to make life on rookie pitchers to see "what you have" in a guy that profiles as a bench player, maybe not even a 300 PA bench player?
3. In the end, the outcome was the bloody same so why does this matter? And for the love of god, stop saying "process" because, again, we're talking about a 10th/11th man that is likely to make the roster either way. "Process" is not "what I wanted to see and all other options are invalid". There is a lot of nuance here and the word "process" does not patch up what is ultimately a difference of opinion and priority, both of which have legitimate points to make and things to consider.