Royals Sign Jose Guillen

UPDATE, 12-4-07 at 12:31am: After some twists and turns, the Royals got their man on a three-year, $36MM deal.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 11:52pm: Not so fast, says the KC Star’s Bob Dutton.  Dutton says talks with Guillen are currently stalled – the Royals don’t want to go past two years.  Instead they’ve been in close contact with Andruw Jones.  They don’t want to exceed two years on him either but will pay extra for the shorter term.  Their offer might not be much more than two years, $32MM though.

Even crazier: if the Royals miss out on Hiroki Kuroda, they could sign Jones and Guillen.

UPDATE, 12-3-07 at 10:50pm: Ken Rosenthal reports that the Royals and Guillen are closing in on a deal.  So Moore must have just been posturing or speaking out frustration tonight.  Or, his comments were a negotiation tactic that worked.  The deal is said to be a three-year pact worth $11-12MM per year.

FROM 12-3-07 at 9:19pm:

MLB.com reports are getting filed left and right.  The latest is Dick Kaegel, who’s saying the Royals have cooled on Jose Guillen.  Dayton Moore made a point to repeat that he’s getting more interested in other opportunities for right-handed power.  And to think, the Royals were dead-set on Guillen as recently as this morning.  Wow, was that this morning?

Translation of Moore’s comments: he is not happy with Guillen.  Perhaps the Royals have an offer out and haven’t gotten an answer.  Guillen might be trying to play the field but there aren’t many other suitors for him currently.