Latest On The Royals

The latest on the Royals, who continue to seek a front-rotation starting pitcher…

• The Royals are exploring a group of free agent starters that includes Brett Myers, Kevin Correia, and Jair Jurrjens, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick, which could be a backup plan if they fail to acquire a No. 1.  Dutton has heard differently, saying he's been told the Royals have no intention for now of pursuing any pitcher who wouldn't front their rotation.
• The Royals' payroll pinch is tighter than initially believed, explains Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star.  In fact, the team appears to already be over budget.  Regarding the Shields talks, a Royals official told Dutton, "It’s not like we’re going to bend over backward,” one club official said. “We’re not going to do that. We want to make a trade to get another starter, be it Shields or someone else, but we don’t feel we have to make a trade."  The Rays are likely to wait to move Shields until Zack Greinke signs, writes Dutton.

Earlier updates:

• The Royals are still talking to the Rays about Shields, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan, but currently the price of top prospect Wil Myers and then some is too much.  Passan's source insists the Royals are not in on Anibal Sanchez, whose market price stands at five years and $70MM+ at this time.
• "The Royals are definitely not in on [R.A.] Dickey," a rival executive told Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
• The Royals may be at a critical stage in the decision whether to trade top prospect Wil Myers for a starting pitcher such as the Rays' James Shields, tweet Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports.  Bob Dutton believes the Royals would not hesitate to trade Myers for Shields, but that it'd probably require more.
• The Royals are interested in a variety of free agent starters, tweeted Morosi earlier, and Anibal Sanchez appears to be their top choice.
• The team is focused on "just a few players," GM Dayton Moore told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star today.