Jose Guillen Trade Rumor

What? Could it be? The Royals have found another team even remotely interested in this turd of a player??

Rumor has it KC is in talks with the NY Mets for a possible Jose Guillen trade. According to the NY Daily News, the Mets are after either Matt Holliday or Jason Bay (clearly much better options than Guillen), but have begun talks regarding Guillen as a Plan B option.

First of all, let me just say the fact that anyone is talking to KC about this deal makes me ecstatic. Secondly, the fact that their Plan A involves either Guillen or Bay coming to town makes me feel even better. I can't imagine either of those guys really want to go to the Mets. With all the other teams after them, I think the Mets (who are run by one of the worst GM's in baseball) are not a Plan A, B, C, or D option for Holliday or Bay.

Word is, coming back to KC in the deal would be a pretty solid outfielder named Angel Pagan. He can play centerfield, but is obviously blocked by a certain All-Star caliber player named Carlos Beltran. Wouldn't it be some kind of sweet justice for a solid player blocked by a former Royals great to be traded to KC for a current Royals albatross.

Last year, Pagan got a lot of time in the big leagues due to several injuries and managed to hit .306 in 343 at bats. Add to that 22 doubles, 11 triples, six homers...and the fact that he can play center and has good speed...the Royals should offer to pay Guillen's entire contract to get him out of town.

A week ago, I would've been happy to trade Guillen for a flaming bag of poo. Or a gym bag full of dirty jock straps. But now...we've got someone willing to deal an ACTUAL player for this clown. And one who could probably be in our opening day lineup.

Don't screw this up, Dayton. Get this guy out of here. (And while you're at it...throw in Mike Jacobs for a box of ball point pens and some post-it notes).

Jacobs, Bannister on the Block

No surprise that we'd part ways with Jacobs (good luck finding a trade partner, though). Bannister I could see moving for the right price...or I could see keeping around in the back end of the rotation.

Jon Heyman dishes on some trade rumors

Zack Wins!

As a Royals fan, this is the most excitement I've had in years....congrats Zack.

He won the award by receiving 25 out of 28 first place votes. A landslide. Looks like I'm not the only person with a man crush on Zack.

Zack or Felix?

In about 15 minutes we'll find out who wins the AL Cy Young (gotta be Zack, right?).

Here is a good read from The Hot Stone League at the Seattle Times website (where they predict Zack will win)....

Click for article.

Stay tuned for the results...

More Gold Gloves

The National League winners are...


Catcher
Yadier Molina
Cardinals

First Base
Adrian Gonzalez
Padres

Second Base
Orlando Hudson
Dodgers

Third Base
Ryan Zimmerman
Nationals

Shortstop
Jimmy Rollins
Phillies

Outfield
Shane Victorino
Phillies

Michael Bourn
Astros

Matt Kemp
Dodgers

Pitcher
Adam Wainwright
Cardinals

Granderson on the block?

According to a Fox Sports article posted today, the Tigers are taking offers for Curtis Granderson. The team has already reportedly shopped pitcher Edwin Jackson around as well. Are the Tigers cutting salary? Do they not believe in Jackson?

In other news (and more relevant to this particular blog), the Royals have given the starting third base job to Alex Gordon. He has by no means earned it...but hey...nothing this team does makes a whole lot of sense (that Teahen trade was the first positive move I've seen in about two years).

The same report says the team is comfortable with newly acquired Josh Fields playing left field should they find a trade partner willing to make a play for David DeJesus. I could see this happening. He's cheap ($4.7 million this year), was in the running for a Gold Glove this year, and is a very consistent hitter. A solid guy who plays a solid game, and at a pretty good cost.

Maybe the Royals should ship DDJ off to the Motor City in a package deal for Granderson? Dejesus and Callaspo for Granderson, perhaps? Sounds better to me than that sickening rumor of Callaspo to the Dodgers for 28 year old catcher (who happens to be a career minor leaguer with no power).

I love DeJesus...but if we can get something for him...well...like DM said the other day (about our beloved Royals) - "It's not working." No. It's not working. And shipping off these long time players like Teahen, DeJesus, Buck, etc., who have known nothing but losing may be a step in the right direction.

American League Gold Gloves Announced

Here they are...your 2009 AL Gold Glove winners:


Pitcher
Mark Buehrle
Chicago

Catcher
Joe Mauer
Minnesota

First Base
Mark Teixeira
New York

Second Base
Placido Polanco
Detroit

Third Base
Evan Longoria
Tampa Bay

Shortstop
Derek Jeter
New York

Outfield
Adam Jones
Baltimore

Ichiro Suzuki
Seattle

Torii Hunter
Los Angeles of Anaheim


No Royals on the list, which is not too shocking. I do think a case can be made for Greinke...hopefully he'll bring home some hardware next week, though.

Royals Decline Options on Three Players

Looks like we have some more news to report. According to MLBTR, KC has declined options for Coco Crisp, Miguel Olivo, and Yasuhiko Yabuta.

None of these moves are shocking, of course, but it's nice to see the team letting dead weight (and tied up cash) walk.

The word on the street...well...not the street so much as the internet, is that Crisp may be offered an incentive based deal to come back and play center. I personally would not be opposed to that.

Here's to hoping John Buck follows Olivo out of town and we kick off 2010 with a new catching tandem (one that includes Brayan Pena is okay with me).

Next on the chopping block? Mike Jacobs? Crossing my fingers.

Teahen Trade - It's official!

Still no official word from either team on this deal. Apparently nobody will confirm this, and Teahen tweeted last night that he still hasn't heard a yes or no...

Will keep an eye on this deal and post something as soon as I hear something a little more official.

EDIT (2:35 PM) - checked my email a little while ago and received one from kcroyals.com stating the trade is official. Looks like KC also sent cash to the Sox in this deal - how much, we don't know. Either way, we turned Teahen into a couple of guys with upside - and Teahen seems to be all out of upside. Not a bad deal at all.

Teahen to the White Sox?

Reports are buzzing around that Teahen has been traded to Chicago for second baseman Chris Getz and corner infielder Josh Fields.

Buster Olney of ESPN is also reporting that talks between the teams are not that far along....

I'll dig deeper into this deal (if it happens) once I see a few more confirmations. If Buster confirms it - I'll believe it.

Stay tuned.

EDIT: A little over an hour ago (I'm writing this update at approximately 3:30 Kansas City time) this article was posted at Chicago Breaking Sports News (the following is taken from that article, read the full article here.)

The White Sox have yet to confirm a New York Daily News report that stated they would receive versatile left-handed hitter Mark Teahen from Kansas City in exchange for second baseman Chris Getz and infielder Josh Fields.

The article then goes on to say:

But there appear to be some potential stumbling blocks. One is that the Royals already have Alberto Callaspo at second base and would be inclined to trade him to get maximum value before finalizing a deal with the Sox.

"We're in discussions with a lot of clubs about a lot of things," Kansas City GM Dayton Moore said in a statement earlier Thursday. "There is nothing to announce yet, and we won't comment (about trade rumors) until there is something to announce."

A trade involving Callaspo would clear the way for Getz, who said he is recovering on schedule from a sports hernia operation on Oct. 2 but has yet to take a physical examination that is normally required before a deal is finalized.

So...basically...still not sure what's going on here. Either the trade is a done deal and the teams are not confirming for one reason or another...or...the trade is not a done deal and may hinge on the Royals being able to trade Callaspo.

Not sure I like the sound of the latter. I like Alberto's bat more than I like the speed and slight defensive upgrade of Getz. Unless the trade of Callaspo involves us landing a starting pitcher or filling another gaping hole (lord knows this team has plenty), I'm hoping we're just waiting on some formalities here.