The Mariners have shown "signs of interest" in Jose Guillen according to Bob Dutton of The Kansas City Star, but exactly just how much interest is tough to gauge. Royals' officials indicated that they have yet to receive a formal inquiry.
Guillen, 34 this month, is having a resurgent year with the bat. He's hitting .275/.318/.542 with eight doubles and eight homers in 129 plate appearances, though he's almost exclusively a DH nowadays. This season is the final one on his contract, which is putting $12MM in his pockets this summer.
The Mariners have made no secret about their desire to add offense, especially since their DH spot has been a non-factor – just a .189/.250/.207 batting line with just two extra base hits (both doubles). Mike Sweeney (.172/.273/.172) and Ken Griffey Jr. (216/.266/.243) have been the main culprits. For comparison's sake, NL pitchers are hitting .164/.205/.202, less than a 40 point difference in OPS.
Kansas City would assuredly have to eat some money to make a deal happen, and generally speaking, the more money a team eats, the more they get in return. They've been said to be looking for any kind of pitching, just like everyone else.
The interest at this point can’t be more than a tick above minimal. Who would really want guillen and bradley on the same team?
Maybe they’ll cancel each other out and live happily ever after.
I can’t imagine Jack Z thinks that Guillen can sustain any level of success throughout the season. If he picked up Guillen it was because they gave up next to nothing and had to pay little of his remaining salary.
Hell no to Guillen. He has already fell hard after his fast start. Like a .169/.231/.369 slash in his last 60 ABs.
He’s back to be the same ol’ Guillen we’ve seen the last two years. This team can’t afford any more reclamation projects. Not if they want to try and win this year.
Pass.
Plus.. this team needs another DH like it needs a hole in the head.
might as well give him a chance if the price is low. the offense is awful. no power at all. does franklin have the best power of the starters? just awful.
Royals, please make this happen! Get any kind of bullpen help you can get. Not only will give us some bullpen help, it will free up room for Kila, who has been tearing AAA up for a couple of years.
.852 OPS – Guiterrez
*.736 Average AL Hitter*
.710 OPS – Ichiro
.684 OPS – Bradley
.673 OPS – Kotchman
.622 OPS – Jack Wilson
.591 OPS – Figgins
.555 OPS – R.Johnson
.511 OPS – J.Lopez
.509 OPS – Griffey
.445 OPS – Sweeney
.409 OPS – A.Moore
.393 OPS – Byrnes (now gone)
One guy isnt going to fix that… Well, unless of course he was a hitting coach!
Why not just go after Dunn or someone else?
Guillen probably wouldn’t want to go back to Seattle after they pulled what looked like a done two-year extension off the table in the middle of the 2007 season. Rumor has it that Bill Bavasi and the Mariners’ ownership got wind of Guillen’s HGH involvement and possible suspension and stopped the negotiations. FYI, Guillen did receive a 15-game suspension for HGH prior to the 2008 season, but it was overturned as part of an agreement on new policies regarding HGH. Regardless, even with Bavasi gone, Guillen surely wouldn’t be happy returning to the M’s after that. However, there’s no doubt he’d be an improvement at DH over the Griffey/Sweeney combo. Of course, the M’s would still have Bradley in LF if Guillen came over, which compromises the team’s defense-first philsophy. Also, Guillen can definitely be a “bad head” at times, and mixing him with Bradley could make for a volatile combo.
As for Adam Dunn… the Nats would like to keep Dunn, so they won’t trade him without getting something decent in return. If the M’s ate most of Guillen’s salary (which they could afford to do), they wouldn’t have to give up much to KC.
Overall, the best trade prospect for the M’s would be a healthy Brad Hawpe, since the Rockies would be dealing from a position of strength (Seth Smith, Ryan Spilborghs and/or Eric Young, Jr. to take over) and might only require a good middle reliever and mediocre prospect in return, especially if the M’s took on the responsibility of Hawpe’s $10 mil option for next year.
@universalguru i dont know what makes you think the royals are just trying to dump guillen…your team obviously needs a power hitter and considering he’s started out pretty well, he can’t hurt your team.
The M’s should see if they can get Kila from them. I cant imagine it would cost too much maybe for Saunders.
double post
There is no way they would move Kila for Saunders while he has an ops of .506 in a hitter friendly league. Guillen has looked terrible recently. I can’t see the Royals getting anything more than a million in salary relief. The Mariners need to just bite the bullet and sign Dye. Give him 2 mill and throw him in there.