MONDAY, 3:09pm: A source tells ESPN.com's Jayson Stark that the Royals have "no interest" in Francoeur or Perez (Twitter link).
SUNDAY, 7:33pm: Talks between the Mets and Royals are fluid, though it doesn't appear that Guillen will be headed to Queens, says Andy Martino of the New York Daily News. It seems that if Guillen is dealt elsewhere, then Kansas City would be interested in Francoeur, Martino adds.
7:00pm: Francoeur and Perez are on the block, a source tells Jon Heyman of SI (via Twitter). Another source tells Heyman that a trade with Kansas City "might happen" (Twitter link).
6:36pm: The Mets are in talks with the Royals and three names from each side are "in play," writes Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports. Those Royals players are Gil Meche, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Guillen while the Mets being discussed are Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, and Jeff Francoeur. It is unclear how advanced the talks are, cautions Rosenthal (via Twitter).
While the two sides aren't necessarily looking at a three-for-three swap, the two biggest contracts do match up well. Meche and Perez's contracts are identical over the next two seasons, with both pitchers earning $12MM in this year and next. The Mets made an attempt to swap the two just over a week ago.
Francoeur and Farnsworth also match up well, says Rosenthal. Farnsworth's contract has a club option for 2011 for $5.25MM, though he has the right to void it in favor of a $500K buyout if he is traded before the 2010 World Series. Francoeur will make $5MM this season before entering his final year of arbitration eligibility.
It’s like a terrible PBS show waiting to happen: Veteran Albatross Swap.
Man, I understand the Royals want to dump these guys….but my God. Talk about exchanging trash for trash.
How did the Royals even FIND a trade where Jose Guillen is the most valuable player…
hahaaha good point.
If Moore picks up Francoeur or Oliver Perez for anything then he needs to be fired. The only reason Meche has been bad the last two years is his former manager rode him till his arm fell off, even when he told the staff he couldn’t pitch. And Guillen’s money comes off the books after this season so there’s no need to add a replacement who costs somewhat less but is so much worse. Just let the freaking young players play damn it.
Could you cite a reference for Meche telling the staff he couldn’t pitch? Would like to see a link or something. Thanks.
I probably stretched it too much saying that he told them he couldn’t pitch, so that was misleading and hyperbolic on my part. Thinking back to what I remember was said, Meche told Hillman or a member of the medical staff, that he felt like he had a dead arm. This was either right before or right after he threw 130 pitches in a game, after throwing 115 and 110 before that. Including that game, for 2009 he had a 3.31 ERA (and yes I know ERA is not an end-all be-all stat, but it works for now). After that game in 2009, his ERA was 8.46. He has had arm problems ever since. And his 2010 ERA is 6.66. As soon as I find an article about it, I’ll post it.
Not an official source but Rany Jayzerali goes somewhat in depth into Meche’s troubles here: ranyontheroyals.com/2010/05/hillmans-last-stand.ht…
He mentions the dead arm issue, I would ctrl+f “dead arm” to find the area, it’s a bit of a ways down.
What a steal for the Mets…Guillen > FrancoeurMeche > PerezFarnsworth > Castillo
Or comparing the contracts…
Farnsworth > Francoeur
Meche > Perez
Or you can put Guillen > Francoeur, Perez, and Castillo.
Or that! Haha.
Royals and Diamondbacks on a quest to see which can be the most poorly run organization?
Can’t leave out the Pirates of course
Or the Astros
Where are the Mets in this conversation? 3rd biggest payroll and in 3rd place again.
Mets are 5th in payroll
no their in thrid
Why does it matter? Still far out of first place for the second year in a row.
I meant Aren’t*
Wait until you see the Royals farm system come on like the Twins in about 2012. Then you might see how good of an organization this can be.
Don’t forget the Cubs. They already have $104 million on the books for 2011 and that doesn’t include raises to nine players via arbitration!
Meche hasn’t pitched since May 25th? he injured?
Those Royals players are Gil Meche, Kyle Farnsworth, and Jose Guillen the Mets being discussed are Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, and Jeff Francoeur. Yeah small market my behind, this is why the Royals are srubsWhat m0ron GM would want Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo and Jeff Francoeur if they are rebuildingThere are reasons why teams like the Pirates and Royals are perennial scrubs start at their management front office positions.
Shouldn’t the Royals be looking for young minor league talent and not these major league has beens of the Mets
At least the Pirates trade their players for prospects, rather than trading for below-average veterans that cost too much and block the players with potential.
I’d trade Farnsworth for some decent prospects. Frenchy could do well in a place like Kansas but it seems hard to believe that he’ll ever be the player he was. Like Koby said Guillen is coming off the books but I kinda like Castillo besides would fill in. I just can’t see Perez doing anything but then again you never know with him. Meche can still be useful in my opinion. As a Braves fan I hope this trade doesn’t happen because the Mets would get a solid reliever a pitcher who will probably find his way back and be servicable and a power bat outfielder. Perez and Frenchy have the biggest potential but probably won’t reach that.
Farnsy won’t net anything unless you eat all of his salary. Frenchy and Perez suck, they pretty much always have.
I tried to justify Luis Castillo, who would appear to be a nice 2 hole 2b but he’s simply not. No speed, no power, no range, always injured, nice plate discipline. This dude will be lucky to get a spring training invite after his contract is up.
Francouer would be a lousy fit in KC. All he brings is an arm and glove, and the ability to hit a homer against LHP — which will be lessened in Kauffman Stadium.
This deal makes no — NO — sense for the Royals, even financially. With Castillo, what to the Royals do with Aviles, a younger player with a better bat? Perez is nothing more than an innings-eater, although a bad one at 6.00+ ERA; the Royals have a cheaper one of those in the talentless Andrew Lerew. And my view of Francouer, who has not improved one bit as a hitter in 5 MLB seasons, was stated above.
If the Mets want Guillen, Meche, Farnsworth, let them offer prospects and draft picks.
This isn’t exactly the most enviable trade ever, but if the Mets can somehow get rid of Perez, Francoeur and Castillo, all in one trade, without taking on an equal amount of long term commitments, I would cry, I really would.
Why would anyone want Francoeur? Honestly. I know Dayton loves his former Braves, but what can possess someone who clearly has the baseball wherewithal to get to the position of MLB general manager actually look at Frenchy and say: “Hmm, you know what? I think this guy would really improve my ball club.”
He’s just NOT a very good player.
Then again, he’s talking to the guy who looked at Ollie Perez and said “We gotta lock this guy up NOW,” and proceeded to write him a check for $36MM, which Omar may as well have just cashed, carried the money onto a small plane, and sprinkled all over the other 29 baseball teams’ cities and said “Here you go! You’re welcome! Ho ho ho!”
And really, even if Moore was delusional to want Francoeur, wait until he’s non-tendered after the season, because no WAY does he get a raise on his $5MM. Moore must be really terrified that the Mets are going to lock up their replacement-level outfielder for the next five years or something.
Then again, as stated before… it’s Omar Minaya…
Typical Dayton Moore…
Guillen, Farnsworth for Francoeur and Perez… come on it’s the Royals.
trust me you haven’t seen Perez pitch. That’s still a great trade for the Mets
Allday FYI the Royals play in Missouri.
Dayton. Please, do not do this. This is the time for David Glass to step in and say “No, this will waste too much money.”
Wait a minute! If the Mets trade Ollie Perez, who will Jerry Manuel pitch in extremely high leverage relief innings that aren’t save situations? Because obviously he can’t put K-Rod in the game.
If this trade gets made, I quit the Royals.
I call shenanigans. Despite what you think of Moore, even he wouldn’t make a trade like that. I truly believe the only player he has interest in is Francour. My guess is the Mets are still trying to ditch Perez and get Meche.
This may be a cardinal sin, but I’m a Phils fan and I would LOVE to have Francouer. I would take him and slide him over to left field in place of Raul Ibanez. Obviously, the Mets would never deal with the Phillies, but I certainly think that Francouer has been blacklisted per say the past 4-5 years. He was a stud in Atlanta and if he were given full-time reps, he would definitely perform.
He’s had a full-time reps his whole career and he hasn’t done well. He’s only been a platoon player for two weeks.
He had been starting for the mets for long enough where he would get enough chances to prove himself. He isn’t the player that he was in ATL. I like Frenchy as a person but not as a player. Good luck to him if he is moved.
look at last years numbers as a met….change of scenery did him good…who says it cant happen again? it would be bizarre seeing him in left with that cannon but i guess werth would be hard to displace
The only thing Francoeur is good at is playing right field, especially with his throwing arm. He would gain a little offensive boost from playing in Philly’s park, but he is a stone-cold inadequate hitter.
He was far from a stud in Atlanta. Why do you think they traded him for Ryan Church…Ryan Church!!!!
Thank God KC offered Dayton Moore the GM job before JS retired & it was given to Frank Wren, instead. We were on the verge of getting Zack Greinke for Francoeur after his first down year, so it surprises me none Moore’s after him now.
Here’s a hint, Dayton. You want Francoeur? Just wait, then offer him some meaningless contract in the offseason, instead of having to pay him through arbitration next year. He’ll be DFA’d come season’s end anyway, idiot.
Knowing Moore he’d probably offer him a 5 year $50 million contract in free agency.
You were never going to get Greinke for Francoeur.
Agreed. DM made it clear Greinke was never going anywhere. Just wishful thinking from Braves fans.
This why the Royals are the ROyals. A team that is as bad as they are just be looking to dump those contracts and collect as many prospects as possible. Neither Perez, Francoeur or Castillo are the kind of players a small market team in the midst of a rebuild need to have on their roster sucking up PT and $$$.
Look, most of this is just “change of scenery” fluff. Farnsworth/Francoeur is the problem, and it’s not because Farnsy is the second coming of the messiah. Dayton Moore wants yet another player that is not, demonstrably, very good at playing baseball.
Also, hasn’t he noticed that we have like 8 outfielders right now? We’re already sitting Maier to play Ankiel. Because Podsednik has to play every day, and so does Guillen, we have had Gordon in the minors and now playing in perhaps 2/3 of games at the ML level. Acquiring French is something that can wait until the offseason, when he’s non-tendered and we don’t have to play a million different outfielders on bad contracts anymore.
But Farnsworth and Frenchy look so much like ballplayers! I bet Moore can’t wait for Ryan Sweeney and Jordan Danks to be free agents.
What does Francoeur bring that Gordon or Lough or Parraz doesn’t in 2011? Why even bother with Castillo when you have Getz and Aviles? Francoeur blocks Ka’aihue now and next year. You can get an average to below-average outfielder for a lot less than what Francoeur will cost in arbitration next year – See Ankiel and Podsednik. This deal makes no sense at all.
There is a reason these one-sided sounding deals always come from the big market teams but never transpire. The rumors are wishful thinking from New York and not much more.
Those deals suck for both sides. Difference is, you can understand the Mets taking a gamble on one of those mentioned because they might fill a short term need whereas the ROyals should be thinking long term. Francouer isn’t thinking long term.
I’m guessing the Royals wouldn’t give up much to get Francouer. The Royals are thinking long-term as well. Their minor league system is loaded. They can take on Francouer and never miss a beat. I’m shocked Dayton Moore didn’t get him from the Braves…..he has a total man crush on him.
Why would anyone want Francouer?
To replace Guillen(who will be gone) with a player that at least will hustle his butt off, and maybe show the young players that Moore has brought in how to play the game. Forget that he “might” add some RH power and actually help the Royals win some games. They might be out of the race but creating a winning atmosphere and playing well for the last two months of this season could go a long way in changing the attitude the Royals have developed and might even inspire the fan base. Not saying it would happen but where are they going now?
If you’re saying Francoeur can do that…I want what you’re snorting.
Greinke to the Mets
Tampa Bay has also been asking about Greinke.
While the Mets are in talks with the Royals, they might as well discuss the possibility of acquiring Zack Greinke. I’ve been hearing about the Phillies going hard after Roy Oswalt, so if that is the case, the Mets should make a splash of their own. I can only imagine that the Royals will be possibly asking for guys like Jenrry Mejia, Jon Niese, Fernando Martinez, Reese Havens and Kirk Nieuwenhuis (and maybe Lucas Duda). If that’s the case, they should by all means pull the trigger.
this is unbelievable. Perez, Francoeur, Castillo. If you are trying to get any of these guys you haven’t seen them play…… And I thought Omar Minya was bad.
Mets get: Greinke, Farnsworth, Guillen, Meche
Royals get: Castillo, Perez, Francoeur, F-Mart, Nick Evans, Ruben Tejada, Kyle Allen
I just puked in my mouthwhen I read this…
What’s that burning smell?
MUST BE ANOTHER ROYALS FIRE SALE!
I seriously hope Stark’s source is correct…
Amen. No way even Royals brass could be that ignorant. We need to get young and get on base, not get more of the same. Guillen, Farns and Meche should go, but they need to be replaced by young guys with upside, not other teams expensive garbage that is just as bad as what we have.
Jayson Stark is a Philly shill. I wouldn’t take anything he says about the Mets seriously. Then again, I don’t take ANYTHING he says seriously.
The only ones I could see moving is Guillen and Farnsworth because Meche has a no trade clause, and this rumor with New York has come up before. Also, with Gordon up now, I doubt Franceour will be an option, UNLESS Guillen is moved somewhere else (even then, I don’t know why we would need him). I know Castillo has been mentioned previously as well but I don’t see that happening. Otherwise, Callaspo would have just stayed at 2nd. The whole reason they moved him was because of defense and I don’t see them replacing Getz for Castillo, even though it is Dayton Moore. So, I don’t think Meche will go or we will be acquiring Castillo. The only possibility is Franceour.
Why’s everyone so upset? Either way, your team sucks. 😀