Jones, Riske, and Guillen

Lots of things to talk about today:

Andruw Jones signed a two-year, $36 million contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Sounds like Jones preferred to stay in the National League. And former teammate, and current Dodger, Rafael Furcal, made "more than one" phone call to Jones attempting to get him to sign with the Dodgers. So, we'll see if Moore pursues another bat. I'm sure that Mike Sweeney could be had for a relatively cheap price and this may open the door for more discussion between Sweeney and Moore. I'd love to see it happen. Mark Teahen could stay in right field. Ross Gload could play first base. Billy Butler could play DH. And Sweeney could fill in at first or DH whenever needed.

David Riske signed a three-year, $13 million contract with Milwaukee. That's going to be a real blow to the Royals' bullpen, but that's the reason Moore signed Yasuhiko Yabuta. And the Royals are said to be interested in LaTroy Hawkins, who was 2-5 with a 3.42 ERA with the Rockies last season. Jeremy Affeldt is a free agent, and the Rockies are said to have offered him $4 million for two years, but he's thought to be seeking $16 million for four years. I'd be stunned if Moore was interested at that price (or maybe at any price).

The Jose Guillen signing has become a bit strange. According to a recent article by Bob Dutton, "ESPN created a stir by reporting union officials were negotiating with Major League officials on terms of a potential suspension for Guillen resulting from his alleged purchase of steroids and human growth hormone from May 2002 through June 2005." This is reported to have caught the Royals off-guard. I'm not sure how that's possible given this information also supplied by Dutton, "The San Francisco Chronicle reported last month it had obtained documents showing Guillen purchased $19,000 in steroids and HGH from a Florida anti-aging clinic under investigation for illegal drug sales." MLB says they don't negotiate discipline.

The Royals say they are unconcerned about Guillen's past, which beyond his alleged steroid usage, includes his much discussed spat with Mike Scioscia in 2004 and his "occasional outbursts" as Dutton calls them. But this signing is raising the eyebrows of fans and guys like Joe Posnanski. Here's a little of what he said: "I think it [the Guillen signing] was a mistake, though. I wish the Royals would have taken a chance on a young talent in a trade or gone crazy and tried to get some mega star like Miguel Cabrera here. We in Kansas City have seen these sorts of aging veteran moves backfire so many times over the last 15 years or so--think about Reggie Sanders, Juan Gonzalez, Chuck Knoblauch, Eli Marrero, Bip Roberts, Vince Coleman, Felix Jose, Jeff King and, of course, [Kevin] McReynolds himself."

As with every other free agent signing, we won't know the validity of this one until the Royals hit the field. I'm inclined to give Moore the benefit of the doubt given his gutsy Gil Meche signing last offseason, but I have all the same reservations that everybody else has.