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Mariners Show Signs Of Interest In Jose Guillen

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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.

Odds & Ends: Santana, Red Sox, Lee, Saunders

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Thursday night linkage..

Stark On Gordon, Dunn, Lowell

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The five most untradeable contracts in baseball?  ESPN's Jayson Stark's poll of baseball executives say it's Alfonso Soriano, Vernon Wells, Travis Hafner, Carlos Lee, and Barry Zito.  Hard to argue; check out our Bad Contract Swap Meet from last year for a look at other ugly deals.  It was interesting to see Daisuke Matsuzaka and Kosuke Fukudome nab honorable mentions in Stark's poll.  On to his other rumblings…

  • Stark's conversations led to repeated mentions of the new collective bargaining agreement, which will go into effect in December of 2011.  The uncertainty will have an impact – will 2011 draftees lack leverage, knowing that a slotting system could be installed the following year?  Does it make sense to worry about Super Two status for Mike Stanton now, when that provision might not exist in 2012?
  • Teams have kicked the tires on Alex Gordon, but the Royals have no interest in trading him.  MLBTR's Luke Adams led a discussion post on Gordon yesterday.
  • The Dodgers are scouring the trade market for starting pitching, while the Royals and Phillies seek bullpen help.  The Mariners and Braves are trying to add offense.  The Diamondbacks are actually more interested in starting pitching than relief, and are expected to have Chris Snyder available once Miguel Montero returns.
  • A "baseball man familiar with the Nationals' thinking" expects Adam Dunn to return in 2011, though not necessarily via an in-season extension.
  • A friend of Mike Lowell tells Stark the third baseman would love to play for the Twins or Angels if the Red Sox plan to trade him.
  • The Phillies have recently adopted a stance against full no-trade clauses, which is reflected in the Roy Halladay and Ryan Howard extensions.

Discussion: Alex Gordon

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Earlier this week, the Royals optioned former first-round pick Alex Gordon to the minors. The second overall pick in 2005, Gordon was named Baseball America's #2 prospect in all of baseball prior to the 2007 season. However, since hitting .260/.351/.432 in 2008, the 26-year-old has struggled to stay healthy and has posted a slash line of just .226/.327/.369 in 227 plate appearances for the Royals, leading to his demotion.

For Joe Posnanski, the move is a signal that the club has given up on Gordon, writing that "when you send him to the minor leagues after only 12 games, it doesn’t matter what you say. You are giving up." ESPN.com's Rob Neyer agrees, pointing out that many people in Kansas City's front office weren't around when Gordon was drafted, reducing their investment in him. Neyer says that if he were running the Royals, he'd play Gordon at third base, barring injury, until season's end, but the organization has other plans — they intend to give Gordon playing time at left field and first base in Triple-A Omaha. As Sam Mellinger of the Kansas City Star notes, Gordon likely would've been displaced at third base eventually by prospect Mike Moustakas, who is hitting .417/.491/.917 in Double-A so far this season.

So where does this leave Gordon? Posnanski is pessimistic about the left-handed hitter's future in Kansas City, predicting that Gordon could end up blossoming with another team who appreciates his strengths. It's unclear if the Royals would consider moving him at this point though, or if there'd even be much of a market for him. Mellinger spoke to one rival scout who opines: "Nobody I know is excited about [Gordon] or thinks he’s above getting sent down."

Gordon is under team control until after the 2013 season, so for now the Royals figure to give him a chance to play every day and gain some confidence in the minors. Eventually, his performance or an injury on the 25-man roster will earn him another shot in the bigs. Posnanski, however, belives that "without expectation and without a position," it won't work.

If it were your decision, what would you do with Gordon, a player once drafted ahead of Ryan Zimmerman, Ryan Braun, and Troy Tulowitzki?

2011 Contract Issues: Kansas City Royals

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The Royals face four contractual options after the season:

  • Right fielder David DeJesus has a $6MM club option with a $500K buyout.  DeJesus continues to do his thing, and it'll make sense to exercise.
  • Reliever Kyle Farnsworth has a $5.25MM club option with a $500K buyout.  Farnsworth can void the option if traded, but it's a moot point since it'll surely be declined.
  • Center fielder Rick Ankiel has a $6MM mutual option with a $500K buyout.  It seems unlikely that both sides exercise.
  • Left fielder Scott Podsednik has a $2MM club option with a $100K buyout.  He's cooled down in the last few weeks.  It's too early to call the option.

The Royals also have four free agents in Jose Guillen, Willie Bloomquist, John Parrish, and Bruce Chen. They're earning a total of $14.7MM this year.  Take another $6.25MM off the books for Farnsworth and Ankiel and $4.85MM for buyouts the Royals won't be paying in '11, and the team has $25.8MM coming off the books.

Increases to players under contract total $11.4MM, assuming DeJesus and Podsednik are retained.  Zack Greinke has the biggest raise at $6.25MM.  First-time arbitration-eligibles include Luke Hochevar, Josh Rupe, Billy Butler, Alberto Callaspo, Brayan Pena, and Josh Fields.  Robinson Tejeda and Alex Gordon would go for a second time, while Brian Bannister, Kyle Davies, and Brad Thompson could go for a third.  A good portion of the remaining freed up cash will go to arbitration-eligible players, especially Butler, Callaspo, and Bannister.

If the Royals decline their options on Farnsworth and Ankiel and let their other free agents go while holding payroll steady, they may have a few million left to work with after giving raises.  Significant free agent spending would require a payroll increase.

Thanks to Cot's Baseball Contracts for the info.

White Sox Acquire Buck Coats

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The White Sox have acquired outfielder Buck Coats from the Royals according to 610 Sports Radio out of Kansas City (via Twitter). The Royals receive cash considerations in the deal.

Coats, 28 in June, was hitting .315/.377/.389 in 62 plate appearances for Kansas City's Triple-A affiliate, playing left field exclusively. He last played in the majors with the Blue Jays in 2008, and is a .193/.242/.333 career hitter in 62 big league plate appearances. Coats has played all three outfield spots extensively throughout out his career, and even dabbled with the infield a few years ago.

Odds & Ends: Crawford, Raynor, Lackey, Strasburg

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Links for Tuesday, as Tim Lincecum reclaims the MLB strikeout lead…

  • Marc Topkin of The St. Petersburg Times spoke to Crawford, who said he was misquoted in the upcoming Sports Illustrated piece mentioned below. "Nothing's changed, no decisions," he said. "I don't know what Carlos [Pena] is doing.''
  • Pirates' GM Neil Huntington told Chuck Finder of The Pittsburgh Post Gazette that he tried to made a deal with the Marlins that would allow Rule 5 pick John Raynor to remain with the Pirates, but to no avail. Raynor was returned to Florida today.
  • John Lackey said he wasn't surprised when the Angels let him depart as a free agent given their trade record with letting home grown players leave, according to Mark Saxon of ESPN Los Angeles. "It's different," said Lackey. "The way they preach the team game and giving it up for the team. That's a little suspect. You're supposed to give it up for the team. When the time comes, they might not want to give it up for you. But I totally knew that was a possibility. I was prepared for that. That's the nature of the game today."
  • Stephen Strasburg has been promoted and will make his Triple A debut Friday against Freddie Freeman and the Gwinnett Braves, reports MLB.com's Bill Ladson.  ESPN's Rob Neyer notes that Strasburg seems to be on the Mark Prior path to the bigs, perhaps delayed a few weeks for cost savings.
  • MASN's Ben Goessling says Nats 2006 first-round pick Colton Willems has decided to retire.  The team has the pitcher on the restricted list in case he changes his mind.
  • An upcoming Sports lllustrated piece on Carlos Pena features this quote from Carl Crawford: "This core group is going to still be together, me and Carlos are the only two guys that are going to be leaving."
  • The Royals granted reliever Roman Colon his release so he can sign with the Kia Tigers of Korea, according to the team.  Just three months ago, Colon and Juan Cruz were in the mix to be Joakim Soria's primary setup man.  The Royals' bullpen sports an AL-worst 5.56 ERA in 81 innings.
  • White Sox GM Kenny Williams wouldn't rule out a fire sale at a later date, but said the team's aggressive nature will probably prevent it (Joe Cowley of the Chicago Sun-Times reporting).
  • ESPN's Buster Olney explains that his Saturday story about Cliff Lee being likely to reach free agency was prompted by a call Olney made to Lee's agent.
  • Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports tweets that the Blue Jays attempted to sign Kelly Johnson to play left field during the offseason, offering more than the $2.35MM Johnson received from Arizona.  Johnson told Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic in March that he strongly considered offers from the Blue Jays, Pirates, and Indians.
  • Joel Sherman of the New York Post points out that the upon acquiring Javier Vazquez, the Yankees considered two 2011 draft picks part of the deal.  Already, Vazquez's Type A status and arbitration offer are in question.  We'll be able to give you Vazquez's exact Elias standing later this month, when Eddie Bajek makes his first pass at 2009-10 rankings.
  • Dejan Kovacevic's latest article for the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests the Pirates were overly optimistic about Akinori Iwamura, currently their highest-paid player.
  • Click here to listen to my radio appearance on KFNS St. Louis from earlier today.

Odds & Ends: Harper, Escobar, Vazquez, Gordon

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Links for Monday, as Joe Blanton makes his 2010 debut…

Odds & Ends: Royals, Byrnes, Colon, Twins

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A few links to browse, as we prepare for the Mets' third consecutive appearance on Sunday Night Baseball….

  • R.J. Anderson of Fangraphs weighed in on the Royals' demotion of Alex Gordon.
  • Dave Cameron of U.S.S. Mariner (via Twitter) has a gut feeling that the M's will release Eric Byrnes tomorrow.  Heading into today's game, Byrnes had a slash line of .107/.265/.179 in 34 plate appearances.
  • Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star tweets that reports of the Royals selling Ramon Colon to Korea's Kia Tigers appear to be premature.  However, the deal for the righty should happen sometime mid-week.
  • In a guest piece at Minorleagueball.com, Twins' prospect guru Seth Stohs tells readers about five Twins prospects that you might not know, but probably should.
  • ESPN New York's Ian O'Connor spoke with Omar Minaya about several Mets-related issues, including his early impression of Ike Davis and Jerry Manuel's contract status. Minaya offers praise for Manuel, but says he won't be approached about an extension until season's end.
  • The New York Post's Joel Sherman writes that the Rays' front office will continue to keep their club competitive, regardless of how many fans are in the stands. He also opines that the presence of Desmond Jennings and Jeremy Hellickson in Triple-A Durham gives the team the flexibility to make a trade that would help them both immediately and in the long-term.
  • Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times examines how the Dodgers' cost cutting has affected their scouting and player development.
  • J.D. Durbin has signed a one-year deal with NPB's Softbank Hawks, according to Kyodo News. The 28-year-old right-hander last pitched in the majors in 2007 for the Phillies.

Diamondbacks Acquire Carlos Rosa

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The Diamondbacks have acquired righthander Carlos Rosa from the Royals in exchange for shortstop Rey Navarro, tweets David Holtzman, the director of media relations for the Royals.

Rosa, 25, posted a 4.56 ERA, 10.1 K/9, and 4.1 BB/9 in 71 Triple A innings last year.  Early in 2010, his peripherals have moved in the wrong direction.  Baseball America notes that Rosa was originally part of the Mike Jacobs trade in October of '08, but elbow concerns prompted the Royals to send Leo Nunez to Florida instead.  BA writes that Rosa, who was converted to relief last year, had the best fastball in the Royals' farm system.  However, his secondary pitches need work.

Navarro, 20, was promoted to High-A Visalia for the 2010 season.  In 2009, the switch-hitter hit .262/.308/.339 for Single-A South Bend.  BA sees him as a plus defender capable of playing a variety of positions.

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