Looking Back/Looking Forward – Right Field

We finally arrive at a destination where the team would like to upgrade, has the means to upgrade, and needs to upgrade.  Alas, as so many other franchises have discovered, Jose Guillen has a way of getting into the thick of every crevice and refusing to budge.  Oh, yes, he is proving a tough cookie to crumble …

2009 -Year number-2 of the Jose Guillen “We Swear He Can be a Clean-up Guy World Tour,” got off to a rough start, re-established lift-off, and then tumbled back towards the Earth’s surface without escaping the lower atmosphere.  Translation: It was a truly awful year.

Guillen failed to make it to the fourth game of the season before going down with a partially torn hip flexor.  To his credit, he returned the lineup in just the mandatory two-plus weeks, but his bat didn’t come back with him.  He was struggling along in the .240s with just nine round-trippers on July 20th and, from there he would provide KC with just five more games.

In a true sign of how bad the relationship between the team and the player was,  Guillen missed time with a sore side, a tight leg, a sick son, a sprained knee, a partially torn knee ligament, and, finally, mercifully, a strained hamstring that put him down for the count over the season’s final three weeks.  In the midst of it all, a collection of Willie Bloomquist, Ryan Freel, Mark Teahen, and Mitch Maier, did nothing but fill out the batting order.  Still, they did it quietly which makes them an upgrade over Guillen.

Money Ball - Mr. Jackass is entering the final year of his 3-year, 36-million dollar deal signed in the winter of 2007.  Thankfully, the team did avoid backloading his contract (but, they did fail to front-load it) and will owe him $12-million for 2010.

Statistically Speaking - Did you know that in order to play for every MLB team in the league, Guillen needs to don the jersey of just 20 more squads?

2010 - Kansas City would like nothing more than to trade Guillen to an unsuspecting partner.  They would even be willing to eat a big chunk of his salary in order to do so.  Yes, the dude is such a hardship, that the small-market, penny-pinching Royals are willing to bite the bullet on the guy!  Unfortunately, their goals of trading a malcontent in the outfield are matched by the goals of the Cubs to trade a malcontent in the outfield (Milton Bradley).  In other words, the market is saturated with crappy, bad attitude outfielders.

If the trade winds don’t blow anything in, the Royals will be stuck with Guillen as their right field option.  The best hope is that he comes back healthy, shuts his mouth, and does just enough to create a trade market at the 2010 deadline.  If for some reason the team doesn’t have Guillen (or, uses him at DH), they could turn to a carousel of possibilities with Teahen leading the way or they could dip a toe in free agency.

Free Agency -A return engagement with former Royal, Jermaine Dye, would be interesting if he came at the cost of two years and 15-million.  Still, even at that bargain rate, the team would have to dump Guillen before adding a new face.  They just aren’t willing to invest 20-million total dollars in their right field situation.  Depending on Teahen’s future or other decisions in the outfield, KC could also bring in a cheaper vet to compete with Guillen and to guard against his outbursts.  Players like Xavier Nady, Austin Kearns, and Randy Winn come to mind.

Down the Road -David Lough got 60+ games at Double-A Wilmington and, although he’s not a natural right fielder, he has been shifted to the corner spot with the idea of connecting player to big league need.  He actually pieced together one of the finest prospect hitting seasons for the Royals in ‘09.  He collected a .325 average with an OPS near-.870.  There’s very little expectation for him in the spring, but he could be a late-season 2010 call-up.

Positional Strength (1-10) – 6