It's fair to say I'm really psyched by the winter meetings.  A week of baseball talk in the middle of December?  I'm game.

Not a lot happened except the talk on the opening day of the meetings.  With little real activity, let's recap some of the rumors...

It was early when the Milton Bradley to Kansas City rumors reared their head.  I’m not surprised - Bradley needs to move to an AL team and the Cubs are desperate to deal.  However, I was surprised with the name the Royals were rumored to be sending to Chicago.  Gil Meche.  Really?

Financially, this deal makes sense.  Both players have two years remaining and both are due roughly the same amount of cash.  But that’s the only part of this rumor that makes sense.

Think about it.  First, trading for Milton Bradley and not moving Jose Guillen gives the Royals a rare twofer - Two grumpy players who will clash with their manager and teammates, alienate fans with their boorish behavior and can’t play in the field.  Unless the Royals are casting to do the MLB version of Tool Academy, there’s no reason to have both these guys on the same team.  Now, I will say that I’d take Bradley over Guillen in a heartbeat.  Bradley can still be productive with the bat. 

Two, the Royals aren’t trading Meche this winter.  Yeah, I know everyone not named Greinke could be traded, but come on… GMDM says pitching is the currency of the game and he has a pretty good one at an affordable contract in Meche.  As long as SABR Trey doesn’t blow out his arm (and given how he handled his starter last year, I have my concerns) Meche can be a solid number two starter behind Greinke.  That’s something every team needs - a dependable one-two punch.

(By the way, where did this nonsense start that Meche’s contract is a bad one?  The man put up solid first two years with an ERA+ of 124 in 2007 and 109 in 2008.  He faltered last summer, but he was hurt.  First, he was dealing with back issues out of spring training, then he was abused by his manager who was frightened of his bullpen.  Besides, the Royals defense was dreadful last year.  Meche threw more ground balls last year than any other time of his career.  Bad timing on his part.)

So this Meche for Bradley rumor isn’t happening.  Good.

Next, the Royals came up several times in conjunction with the lean catching market.  In addition to Ivan Rodriguez, who came up last week, the Royals were linked to Jason Kendall and Rod Barajas.  To this, I have a simple response…

Ugh.

Of this motley crew, I’d put Barajas at the head of the class I suppose.  It’s a lukewarm endorsement, but his defense is better than the other two and that’s something GMDM has stated is a priority this winter.    

The Giants, Mariners and Rockies are all in the market for a catcher.  So are the Mets and the Nationals.  There just aren’t any decent options currently available.

I think the smart play for the Royals will be to tender a contract to Buck and get him locked in for 2010.  This way, they can have a starting catcher in place.  Then, if someone becomes available on the cheap and would be a better option, the Royals can release Buck and will only have to pay him a fraction of his salary.  They’ve gone this route before under GMDM (Ross Gload and Jimmy Gobble last spring) so they can certainly do it again. 

Of course, if the Royals really fall in love with a guy, they can jump early.  The rumor mill has the Pirates shopping Ryan Doumit and it’s possible the Rays are going to non-tender Dioneer Navarro.  Both are probably the best of the bunch I’ve mentioned.  Doumit had a miserable season after missing most of the first half with a wrist injury.  He’s locked in for the next two years at a total of $8.65 million with club options for 2012 and 2013.  I’m not sure why the Pirates would be looking to deal, but that’s not really my concern.  What is my concern, is I doubt the have the trade chips to bring him to KC.

They may not need a large trade chip if they decide to pursue Navarro, who is a non-tender candidate since the Rays picked up Kelly Shoppach last week from Cleveland.  Navarro is a contact hitter who lacks power and was unlucky last year with a .231 BABIP.  Defensively, he’s solid, throwing out roughly 30% of all would be base stealers and showing an ability to block the balls in the dirt.  Overall, I don’t think he’s much better than Buck, but he’ll be 26 next season and that alone gives him upside over the other stiffs the Royals have been connected with in the early going.  If the Royals think he’s their guy, they’ll need to pull the trigger now before he hits the open market.

I’m on the record as saying I think the Royals should bring Buck back for one more year.  However if they can get an under 30 catcher with some upside (Doumit) for less money (Navarro) than it would take to retain Buck, I wouldn’t be opposed to a move.  However, all indications are the Royals are planning to non-tender Buck.  Unless they already have his replacement in place, that would be the wrong move.  If they cut Buck loose without having someone to fill his shoes (admittedly, they aren’t big shoes to fill) they’ll be in the position where they have to fill the spot.  That’s the kind of stuff we saw all too often from the Allard Baird regime - painting yourself in a corner without a viable option.

Of course we all know Dayton doesn’t wait for the market to establish itself.  He likes to establish the market.  I expect he’ll make a move sooner rather than later.

Overall, kind of a dud for day one.  Hopefully, day two will bring more than rumors and we’ll get a little action.

The Winter Meetings begin today and for those of us who love rumors and speculation, this is THE week.

The first big one out of the box this morning is a rumor that the Mets are 'intrigued' by Gil Meche.

Part of me cringes at trading Meche because a) I really like him and b) it reeks of the usual 'trade for prospects and play for the future' plan of action that the Royals have seemingly followed for the past twenty years.

However, any rumor that included the possibility of ridding the club of Kyle Farnsworth does ease the pain a little.   We should be cautious in this instance, as this rumor also mentions Luis Castillo coming to the Royals.   That puts this rumor into the pure speculation category in my mind.   With the Royals already sitting there with Alberto Callaspo and Chris Getz, it seems unlikely that they would take on Castillo's contract (basically half what Meche is owed).     Of course, you could go unconventional and still trade Callaspo, let Castillo and his .387 on-base percentage lead off as the designated hitter and still play Getz (a/k/a the next Brian Roberts) at second base.

Putting all that speculation aside, the Royals have made it known that they are willing to listen on Gil Meche.   That makes some sense, maybe even a lot of sense, in that Meche is expensive (for the Royals) and might well garner some decent returns to flesh out the future lineup.   If the move is made this winter, we all need to hope it is because the deal is right and the other team involved is focusing on Meche's outstanding 2007 and 2008 seasons and not his injury filled 2009 campaign.

The return simply must be good because Meche is the kind of guy we should hate to lose.   He was a number three starter who got a big contract and was willing to step up and be the staff leader.   This is a player who never once has sighed and said 'well, that's just baseball'.    Gil is the kind of guy Kansas City should want on its roster, but he may be a luxury on a team that probably will not contend.

Trading Meche is not a bad idea, but what comes back needs to be good.   This is one Dayton Moore has to get right.

This move seems to have caught everyone by surprise.  Everyone.  Except for Yahoo's Jeff Passan who broke the story this evening on Yahoo's site.

Noel Arguelles, a 19-year-old left-hander who last year defected from Cuba, agreed to a five-year, $7 million major league deal with the Royals on Saturday, according to a club source. Arguelles can earn up to $2 million in incentives as well. An official from another team interested in Arguelles said he had been informed a deal was close.

Arguelles was ranked by ESPNs Keith Law as the 10th best free agent available this winter.

If he were an American high school or junior college player, he'd be a solid first-rounder with a chance to be a top-10 guy and probably would be a $4 million bonus baby. As a free agent, he should easily double that.

Well, it looks like he will indeed double the $4 million Law guessed he would earn if he were in the draft.

According to Law, Arguelles has a fastball that rests between 91 and 94 with his change-up developing as a plus pitch.  And his curve projects as an above average pitch as well.

We've heard rumblings the Royals would like to be agressive in the Latin market and this is certainly the biggest move the club has ever made.  It's an enormous gamble, but it's one the Royals have to take if they have the resources allocated.  Arguelles has loads of talent and he jumps into the minor league system already semi-deep in pitching.  Speculation from Passan is that Arguelles will start in A-ball and will be fast-tracked to the major leagues.  Since this is a major league contract, he'll have to be added to the Royals 40-man roster.  And don't forget, Crow is on the 40-man roster as well, possibly giving the Royals two pitchers who have yet to throw a pitch in a pro game (I'm not counting Crow's time in the AFL... I'm talking about summer, minor league ball) on their roster.

My recommendation if you're looking for the latest is to keep checking Yahoo's baseball page because Passan has been way out in front of this story and has been doing a great job.  Unfortunately, Passan isn't on Twitter, but I learned of the move from his Yahoo colleague, Big League Stew, via Twitter.  Heck, you should probably follow us on Twitter as well... We'll be sure to retweet all the breaking Royals news we can find.

A little more scuttlebutt emerges overnight that the Royals and A's discussed a trade involving Alberto Callaspo.   No other names have leaked out of this rumor and the talks apparently made little, if any, progress.   All this revelation really tells us is that Dayton Moore is actively marketing Callaspo.

A quick hit on this strategy is that I am in favor of it and here's why:

1. While I think Callaspo will always hit some, I am not sold that he will consistently post an OPS+ of 114, nor smoke 60 extra base hits again.
2. He is an awful second baseman:  not just physically, but mentally as well.   Yes, you can say that Chris Getz was not a very good second baseman, either, but he looked like he can get better.  Callaspo simply strikes me as a player who will never 'get it' in the field.
3. I don't think Alberto would be a very good third baseman or left fielder, either.   Plus, if you move Callaspo to third, Gordon to first and Butler to DH, you run the risk of annoying your best hitter (Butler) and giving your biggest unrealized talent (Gordon) just one more thing to think about.
4. My completely unscientific, certainly optimistic, expectation is that Chris Getz may actually be the better player than Callaspo by the end of 2010.

Now, the big risk is that Dayton Moore is the guy to pull the trigger on the deal.    For every Burgos for Bannister deal, Moore has two Nunez for Jacobs disasters.   Although, it should be noted that his trade percentage success is considerably higher than his free agent signing success.

Given that every GM in the league knows that Callaspo is not a great defender, they might well fire away with low ball offers and see if Moore will jump just to jump.   If that is the case, the Royals simply need to stand pat and wait for a contender to get desperate in mid-July.

If the Royals do keep Callaspo, however, the risks do not end.   Let's just say that Alberto does continue to produce at the plate as he did in 2009, will a move to third change that?   What about a move to make Callapso an unconventional designated hitter?  While that seems to makes sense, it would certainly cut into his mid-season trade value.  

Of course, the bigger issue of moving Callaspo to third is the knock on effect to Gordon and Butler mentioned in point number three above.   Who do you want to keep content more?  Billy Butler or Alberto Callaspo?

The Royals could simply keep Callaspo at second, also, but then what was the point of trading Teahen for Getz?  

Dayton Moore does not have to trade Callaspo, but he is certainly right to explore all options to do so.   Caution, however, is the key word in dealing or even just moving Alberto Callaspo.

As Clark outlined yesterday, there are several important dates upcoming on the MLB off season calendar.  The first date of note is today, as it’s the last day for teams to offer their free agents salary arbitration. 

The only way for a team to collect an extra draft pick when they lose a player to free agency is if his former club offered arbitration and was turned down.  Last year, the Royals forfeited their second round choice when they signed Type A free agent Juan Cruz, who refused an offer of arbitration from the Arizona Diamondbacks.  Of course, these days teams value their draft picks and are loath to give them up, even for a “proven” commodity that is a free agent.  That's why the Royals deal with Cruz last February was so surprising. 

With the arbitration deadline looming, the Royals only have to make one decision today.

If you are the general manager of the Royals, do you offer Miguel Olivo arbitration?

As with any move the Royals make this winter, this must be measured in dollars and cents.  Or is it sense?  (Sorry… Bad pun.)

Fangraphs places Olivo’s value for his 2009 season at $9.8 million.  Ummm… That’s a bit on the lofty side.  Most of that is due to what Fangraphs terms a “positional” value.  (I love WAR and the work the crew at Fangraphs does, but like every other system I’ve seen, they have an extremely difficult time finding a formula to properly evaluate the value of catchers.  It’s just an incredibly unique position.) 

Instead of looking at overall value, (we know his defense was awful - probably the worst among regular catchers last year) I’d like to concentrate on what Olivo brought to the team with his bat.  According to Fangraphs, he was one run above average.  That ranked him 13th out of all catchers with more than 200 plate appearances.  (Why 200 plate appearances?  Because I’d like to include John Buck, who was 0.2 runs above average which ranked 16th.)  Click here for the list. 

One run above average with the bat doesn’t sound like much, but for his position, it’s pretty solid. 

It’s worth pointing out that I’ve said this since Dayton Moore traded for Olivo prior to the 2008 season - Offensively, John Buck and Miguel Olivo are the same person.  There’s absolutely no reason for the Royals to pay north of $7 million for two players when they could spend $3.5 million for one.  Maybe they’ll finally wise up and keep one (Buck) at the expense of the other (Olivo.)  Neither player is all that great, but I’d rather have one on my team instead of both.

The Royals still have time to decide on what to do with Buck.  However, there’s not much available as far as catchers.  There are rumors the Cleveland Indians could non-tender Kelly Shoppach.  His power wasn’t there last summer, but he was still able to get on base.  The Rockies declined their mutual option on Yorvit Torreabla.  He’s Olivo without the power.  Robinzon Diaz (yes, that’s the correct spelling of his first name) was waived and released by the Pirates last week and is now a free agent.  He has zero power, but had a decent first year in the majors, has a decent minor league track record and is likely the most affordable of all the free agent options.

The Royals already declined the $3.3 million option for Olivo.  He’s going to be 32 next July and has a career line of .243/.278/.423.  He’d like a multi-year deal, but at this point in his career and with teams counting their pennies, I don’t see it.  He’s had a couple of weeks on the open market so he and his representation should have some idea as to what the market currently holds.  I’m betting their initial findings show it wasn’t as strong as they thought.  I'm betting they'd like to have the luxury of an arbitration offer in their back pocket.  (They have a week to decided whether to accept or decline.)

The Royals would certainly like to gain a draft choice, but the threat of Olivo accepting an offer of arbitration is all too real.  Can the Royals take that risk?  I don’t think so, because the danger is very real that he could make more than $3.3 million if his case goes all the way.  What a disaster that would be where the Royals - who already lack payroll flexibility - could possibly pay Olivo more than what was originally coming to him.  Is the benefit - a second round draft choice - greater than the potential cost - bringing back Olivo at close to $4 million for 2010?  I don't think so.

So to answer the question posed at the top of this entry, I doubt the Royals offer Olivo arbitration.  At least I hope not.

The Thanksgiving holiday produced little in the way of new information as baseball executives and players apparently joined the rest of us in taking a four day vacation.

Outside of some bogus Erik Bedard signing news (a reported one year-$3 million deal has yet to actually come to fruition) all was quiet on the Royals' front over the past week.   Given the lack of new information and a personal dearth of post-holiday motivation, here are a few key dates that will likely generate some, if not a lot, of news in the coming weeks:

• December 1st - last day for clubs to offer arbitration to its free agents.
• December 7th - last day for free agents offered arbitration to accept said arbitration

 The only Royals who really would be of interest here is/was Miguel Olivo, whom the Royals have already declined their side of the mutual option.   This is really all about draft pick compensation as very few free agents offered arbitration will actually accept.

• December 7th - Winter Meetings begin...in Indianapolis (further proof that Bud Selig is no fun - 'winter meetings' should mean Hawaii, Scottsdale or Palm Beach, not Indianapolis)

The Winter Meetings used to be THE time for big trades to happen, but it is not the mecca of activity it once was.  However, there is no better time for the spawning of rumors than this week.   Somewhere in this timeframe, every baseball site will get at least comment along the lines of 'why do you even talk about these rumors, they are almost all bogus and a waste of time'.   For the record, I love rumors so stop being so uptight.

• December 10th - Rule 5 Draft and the last day of the Winter Meetings

Watch the roster activity leading up to this day as the Royals will have to drop a player from their 40 man roster to be an active participant in the Rule 5 Draft.   I'm hoping to get a decent list of eligible players to review either this week or next to see if there is anyone worth taking a shot with this year.   By the way, anyone else bugged by the fact that every national mention of the Rule 5 almost never lists Joakim Soria as one of the 'great Rule 5 picks'?

• December 12th - Last day to non-tender contracts to players

Now, here will be real telling time as to what the Royals will look like in 2010.    Mike Jacobs and John Buck are among the players who might well find themselves free agents come December 13th.

• January 5th through 15th - Arbitration filing period

I'm hoping this is not a very interesting period of time for the Royals as the players who might cost the Royals a decent sum of money in arbitration will hopefully be free agents instead (see the December 12th deadline above).

Like I said, not much going on this Monday morning, but as you can see from the above timeline, there will be plenty of activity in coming weeks.

If, like me, you click on MLBTradeRumors about five times per day, then none of the following will be a surprise to you.   Still, a string of interesting rumors involving the Royals this morning.

• The Royals are 'going hard' after Erik Bedard.
• The Jose Guillen for Angel Pagan rumors will not go away.
• TheWhite Sox are looking at Coco Crisp
• And finally, the Braves signed a minor league free agent from the Royals.   What is this, bizarro world?

We talked some about the Guillen trade on Monday and even Adam Rubin of the New York Daily News admits the odds of this trade actually going down are not good.   I won't spend much time on it today, but if the only stumbling block is how much cash the Royals kick in then for gods-sake Mr. Glass, send the Mets a blank check!

While resigning Crisp and hoping he is healthy for more than half a season is something the Royals should consider, losing him to another club is hardly the end of the world.   Remember, by all accounts, Crisp will not be ready to play until June, maybe even July of next season.   When healthy, Coco gave the Royals a professional hitter and outstanding defender, but he has hardly been the picture of health recently.  No reason to get in a bidding war over him.

Juan Abreu, a high strikeout/high walk reliever was a 25 year old minor league free agent this fall.   The Braves signed him away from the Royals this week.   Abreu was a somewhat interesting arm in the system, but not all that different from a lot of arms in a lot of systems.   Any guesses on how long before he is involved in a trade back to the Royals?   (kidding....mostly)

Now, for the actual interesting rumor:  Erik Bedard.   We are talking about a pitcher with a career 3.71 ERA over six seasons who averages nearly a strikeout per inning.   Since being acquired by Seattle in exchange for a basket full of players that included Adam Jones and George Sherrill (that is looking like a tremendous deal for the Orioles by the way), Bedard has managed just 30 starts over two seasons.   It should be noted, that Bedard was effective in those starts...very effective.

There is something of a consensus around baseball that Bedard is, for lack of a better term, something of a jerk or at least an incredible prima dona.   Fair or not, that kind of label coupled with injury problems, makes one less than attractive on the open market.   This is your classic incentive laden deal scenario that I am completely on board with.

Even if Bedard is a 'one and done', he could still provide the rotation with some serious firepower and maybe help set the table for the Royals to be respectable in 2010 and contenders in 2011.   Heck, if Gil Meche were to rebound to 2007/2008 form, Bedard were to stay healthy and toss 30+ starts with an ERA in the low threes and Zack remains Zack, would it be feasible to at least 'hang around' the AL Central race in 2010?

I’m about to extend way too much effort and energy writing about a minor league signing, but what the hell…

The Royals announced on Tuesday they signed right hander Bryan Bullington to a minor league deal.  From the press release:

The former top overall pick of the 2002 Draft by the Pittsburgh Pirates pitched in the Toronto Blue Jays organization in 2009, mainly at the Triple-A level for Las Vegas.  The 29-year old did make four relief appearances for the Jays in April, compiling a 3.00 ERA in 6.0 innings.  The 6-foot-4, 220-pounder was 3-1 with three saves and a 3.52 ERA in 28 relief stints for Las Vegas, striking out 43 and walking just seven in 38.1 innings.  Bullington is 0-5 with a 5.08 ERA in 13 games (5 starts) in his Major League career since breaking in with the Pirates in 2005.  He also spent time with the Indians in 2008.

Wow.  Looks like the kid is a bust.  Former number one overall draft pick?  Pitching for his fourth organization in as many years?  Only 13 major league games?

The press release doesn't do his story justice.

Bullington is a cautionary tale of the high expectations that come with being a top pick in the draft, the misdiagnosed injuries and the mediocre results.  To me, it’s interesting (some would say fitting) he landed with the Royals because these are all things we’re certainly used to as fans who follow the team.

The Draft

In retrospect, people will assume that Bullington was the number one overall choice by the Pirates because of signability.  That wasn’t really the case. 

Prior to the draft, Baseball America rated Bullington as the number one right handed pitching prospect - some kid named Zack Greinke was number five.  Bullington was thought to have the best command and the best breaking pitches among his peers.  While Bullington had some of the tools, the 2002 draft was thought to be deep in pitching, but there was no consensus top guy. 

According to BA, the Pirates offered $4 million to Bullington before the draft.  They did the same to BJ Upton and Adam Loewen.  It’s not an uncommon practice.  Teams will often be happy with nabbing a couple of different players in the draft, so with all things being equal, they’ll pick the guy who is most amenable to signing.  That’s not necessarily a “signability” pick.  It’s smart drafting.

While all three players turned the Pirates down, they still went with Bullington. 

When Pittsburgh made the selection, they projected him as a number three starter who, even though he pitched three years in college, needed a couple more years in the minor leagues before he could make his mark with the big club.  Negotiations dragged to September, which ensured Bullington wouldn’t make his pro debut until 2003. 

The Minors

Bullington began his career in A ball in the Sally League and earned a mid-season promotion to High-A.  He showed flashes of quality in his first three years, posting a combined ERA of 3.33 in 397 innings.  His walk rate of 2.5 BB/9 illustrated that he was mostly as advertised when scouts discussed his command and his fastball was reaching 96 mph with what was described as “heavy sink.”

After posting a 3.38 ERA with a 2.1 BB/9 in 18 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis, Bullington was a September call-up for the Pirates in 2005.  The plan was for him to pitch out of the bullpen over the final two weeks of the season.  He appeared in just one game.

After his lone appearance, Bullington was shut down for the rest of the season as shoulder tendinitis that cost him a handful of starts in April, flared up again.

The Injury

Bullington was to pitch in the 2005 Arizona Fall League, but with the shoulder still troublesome, he pulled out.  Initially the injury was thought to be just a strain or tendinitis but after an examination, it was determined the damage was much more extensive.  He would need surgery to repair damage to his posterior labrum.  Major shoulder surgery, the recovery time was thought to be six to eight months.

Bullington was slow to recover.  Six to eight months stretched into 12 and he missed all of the 2006 season. 

The Return

Bullington made 26 starts for Triple-A Indianapolis in 2007 in his return to action, but his command, once his calling card, had evaporated.  His walk rate ballooned to 3.5 BB/9 IP and his strikeout rate tumbled to 5.3 K/9.  The following year, he really struggled.  His walk rate fell to 3.0 BB/9 IP, but perhaps in an effort to improve his control, he started catching more of the plate.  I hypothesize this because he began getting hit - 90 hits in 75 innings.  It was the highest hit rate of his minor league career.

Eventually, the numbers are going to catch up to a prospect who can’t force his way into the big leagues and the Pirates were forced to designate Bullington for assignment in order to remove him from their 40-man roster.  He was picked up by the Indians, but didn’t pitch much better for their Triple-A team (and a couple of big league appearances) before moving on to Toronto for the 2009 season.

The Blue Jays decided to use him exclusively in relief and Bullington finally found some post-injury success.  His walk rate of 1.6 BB/9 was the lowest of his career and his strikeout rate of 10.1 K/9 was the highest.  That’s a good sign.  Overall, he threw 39 innings, allowed 42 hits, 6 unintentional walks and had an ERA of 3.52.

Next

The Bullington signing further signals Dayton Moore’s attempt to stock the upper minor leagues with players who have the potential to contribute (likely in a brief, emergency situation) in the big leagues.  That’s a good sign.  We suffered through so many innings of John Bale and and Roman Colon because there wasn’t anybody else in the system. 

Can Bullington contribute in the majors?  He’s been through so much as this point in his career, who knows?  I do like his Triple-A numbers from last year and it’s possible he could make the transformation from injured starter to effective reliever.  He wouldn’t be the first.

Besides, he's an interesting story... So much promise with so little to show. 

The bottom line is, this is a low risk, low cost move.  It’s exactly the kind of move the Royals should be making.

There were some rumors over the weekend, unsubstantiated and mostly speculative, about a possible trade of Jose Guillen to the Mets for Angel Pagan.   As part of this deal, of course, the Royals would be required to kick in some, if not all of Guillen's $12 million in salary due this coming season.

Let's all keep in mind that this deal is probably more 'columnist speculation' than 'actual discussion', so any of you that get all hypertensive over rumors that don't come true might well just stop reading now.     To begin with, it is unlikely the Mets will make any move before seeing how the Jason Bay/Matt Holliday situations play out.   Secondly, and more importantly, it is also unlikely that the Royals will eat a substantial portion of Guillen's salary.

Therein lies the real question of the day:  Why Not?

My mother owned a fabric store for many years and invariably there was always a bit of fabric left over at the end of every bolt.   Not enough to really make anything, but too much to just throw away.   They are called remnants.  You pull them off the bolt, roll them up, tie it with a rubber band and slap some non-sensical price on it just to get it out the door.  

Ladies and gentlemen, Jose Guillen is a remnant.

The Royals have already paid for the luxurious, eye-catching fabric and now are left with a scrap that certainly does not justify its once gaudy price tag.  Move it out the door.

Not long ago, I advocated the plan of keeping Jose and giving him time at designated hitter or, gulp, even right field in hopes that he hits 12 or 14 home runs before the trading deadline.   Hoping, obviously, that some contender might have enough injuries to take a gamble on one-half of a season of Jose Guillen.

Still, if they Royals were to take that path, they might well fall prey to the Reggie Sanders Syndrome.   By most accounts, Sanders was all set to be traded to the Yankees for Melky Cabrera, but went down to injury just prior to the trading deadline.   The next season, he also was hurt when trading time came and went.   Given Guillen's propensity for injury, or at least being 'dinged up and day to day', can the organization really count on Guillen even being in tradable condition (much less actually hitting at the time) come this July?

My guess is the odds are not in the Royals' favor when it comes to Guillen being both productive (however moderately), healthy AND not spouting off come this July.  

The great thing about the off-season is that there is little interaction between the press and the players.   There is no opportunity to observe locker room blowups or late arrivals to the park or shouting matches with drunk fans (or sober ones who are still wearing their high school letter jackets).   Right now, simply by isolation, Jose Guillen is on his best behavior and hence, one of the variables is out of the equation.

Faced with paying Guillen $12 million no matter what, does it not make sense to simply make a move...any move?  

Let's go back to the Mets' rumor - you could insert any team, any marginal player or even marginal prospect or marginal non-prospect - but we'll use the current scuttlebutt just for discussion purposes.   What's worse, paying Jose Guillen $12 million and having him play for you or paying Jose Guillen $10 million to watch him play for someone else and have Angel Pagan on your team?

The money's gone no matter what - no one is going to make the Royals an offer that begins with 'we'll pay all of Guillen's salary' - the time is now to get something...anything, and move on.

The Royals have already taken the plunge with Jose Guillen and are up to their necks in the water.  Should they care if someone dumps another glass of water on their heads?