4 years $38 million according to 810 WHB.

Presser at 2:30 Central.

Chipotles for all!

Geez... They could have had gotten another 2 or 3 Kyle Farnsworths for that price!

Good for Greinke. He had a tough road to follow but at least this part of his life is going well. I hope his other issues are going well also.

I doubt it. Brad and Jennifer haven't reconciled yet.

This is the first decent move Dayton Moore has made all winter. $9.5 million/year for what Greinke put up last year (in the AL) is a worthy deal. Of course that assumes he doesn't implode again.

It's unfortunate that Moore is so bad that some good news like this can be no consolation for Royals fans, since they now know they can't be competitive until he is gone.

It's unfortunate that Moore is so bad that some good news like this can be no consolation for Royals fans, since they now know they can't be competitive until he is gone.

If Dayton is truly that bad, he won't be around by 2011-2012.

Good for KC fans. It was pretty depressing baseball-wise during my years there (96-01) and it must just be so much worse now. This is a bit of happy news. Sounds like a reasonable deal all around.

since they now know they can't be competitive until he is gone.

Usually a team has to stop improving before you say those kind of things. 69 wins in 2007, 75 in 2008. Not like Allard, where the team immediately cratered (with only 2003 being tolerable).

There hasn't been a lot of movement amongst other AL Central teams, so the idea of the Royals making a run at the AL Central title is plausible.

Usually a team has to stop improving before you say those kind of things. 69 wins in 2007, 75 in 2008. Not like Allard, where the team immediately cratered (with only 2003 being tolerable).

There hasn't been a lot of movement amongst other AL Central teams, so the idea of the Royals making a run at the AL Central title is plausible.

I think the lack of confidence in Moore comes more from the decision to give Kyle Farnsworth 9.25 million than the AL Central outlook... That's a questionable deal for a big market team - for a budget conscious team, it's unconscionable.

I think the lack of confidence in Moore comes more from the decision to give Kyle Farnsworth 9.25 million than the AL Central outlook...

While that move is bad, the downright horrible one was giving Willie Bloomquist a 2 year deal. That guy should be a spring training invite.

Farnsworth will be worth it when he injures the lead player on the team in the division title race with the Royals.

But, DeJesus/Crisp/Guillen is better than putting Joey Gathright in as a starter for half the games, and it'd probably beat Guillen/DeJesus/Teahen too in the scheme of things. Not to mention the real possibility that Mike Jacobs will reduce the number of starts for Ross F. Gload far below 100. Unless Trey Hillman is sniffing glue next year, the offense will be better.

Anyways, when it comes to numbers/percentages for overpaid players. Guillen is still far worse than Farnsworth. So, barring a continuation of an economic meltdown, the Royals should be experiencing an uptick in revenue with the completion of renovations and the opening of more stuff in the stadium. They probably had the good fortune of having to shut down a chunk of the stadium at a time when the economy was really bad.

Seems like Major League Baseball hasn't been visibly hit by the financial crises yet.

The Farnsworth and Bloomquist signings are bad, but the Royals payroll isn't as small as it used to be and they can probably absorb those two sucking.

Its the Guillen deal that is the real stinker. Even so, I wouldn't say the Royals have "no chance" at competing the next few years. The Central looks to be up in the air the next few years, and the Royals have (a) some good young players locked up for a few years; (b) a greater willingness by ownership to spend more money, even in this economy; (c) more revenues from revenue sharing and a taxpayer subsidized stadium renovation; (d) an minor league system considered by many to be among the top ten; and (e) a pretty universally lauded draft class.

I'm not saying they'll be favorites or anything, but it shouldn't be a total surprise if they at least contend for a season in the near future.

I think the lack of confidence in Moore comes more from the decision to give Kyle Farnsworth 9.25 million than the AL Central outlook...

A contract exactly half of what Scott Linebrink got from the White Sox...these things do not make or break a career or reputation.

The Farnsworth and Bloomquist signings are bad, but the Royals payroll isn't as small as it used to be and they can probably absorb those two sucking.

I don't know... Captain Tightpants and FP Santangelo v2.0 are likely to be close to 1/10 of the Royals, total payroll, no? Sure - the contracts aren't albatrosses if only because they're 'only' 2 years and 'only' 4.6 mil and 1.5 mil.

It's around the fringes that they hurt... if the Royals ARE in the mix this year, is there room to take on another salary? If not, does this impact the ability to keep players who might be arb ready?

On a team like the Yankees, Cubs, BoSox, etc -- these signings are annoyances, but they're near certain not to prevent either the acquisition of another player nor force an arb eligible player out of town. I mean, Aaron Miles at 2/4.5 is only marginally better than 2/3 for Bloomquist, but that 2/4.5 is easier for the Cubs to eat as a sunk cost if it becomes necessary.

Farnsworth is always eminently foistable, I guess... Teams only seem to realize how maddening he can be when they have had a chance to watch him first hand for extended period - so I guess there's always going to be someone obsessed with his ability to throw hard.

It's around the fringes that they hurt... if the Royals ARE in the mix this year, is there room to take on another salary? If not, does this impact the ability to keep players who might be arb ready?

I think they would go over budget if they really were in it. It wouldn't be a huge Mark Texeira-type move, but it would be similar to 2003 when they got guys like Rondell White and Brian Anderson and Curtis Leskanic.

I don't know... Captain Tightpants and FP Santangelo v2.0 are likely to be close to 1/10 of the Royals, total payroll, no?

They do represent 1/12 of the team, so 'close to 1/10' doesn't sound too out of line.

They do represent 1/12 of the team, so 'close to 1/10' doesn't sound too out of line.

Sure - but Bloomquist in particular occupies a place on the roster (25th man who might not even deserve that job) that generally goes to someone earning the ML minimum... I'd argue Farnsworth's spot is only slightly more important (and his role will slide, trust me on that one... He may enter 2009 as Soria's top setup man - but he won't be by June).

It's around the fringes that they hurt... if the Royals ARE in the mix this year, is there room to take on another salary? If not, does this impact the ability to keep players who might be arb ready?

I'd also say that if the Royals are in that position, the Farnsworth deal becomes more troubling...but if they're in that position, then there are a lot of other things Dayton must be doing right.

I feel like I'm out of touch with a lot of Royals fans about this offseason. As I see it, Jacobs and Crisp were great pickups and the rest has been a wash up till now. Signing Greinke is a great move. I didn't want any part of Furcal and I don't believe he wanted any part of the Royals, so the endless wailing about Farnsworth costing the Royals a shot at Furcal leaves me cold.

I can see the desire for more. I can see the desire for different. I just don't get the angst.

Sure - but Bloomquist in particular occupies a place on the roster (25th man who might not even deserve that job) that generally goes to someone earning the ML minimum...

The 2009 ML minimum is $400K. Bloomquist is making four times that. Honestly, who cares? It'd cost you that much just to bring in freely available talent to compete for the job.

Moore had an absolutely horrible off-season, aside from what looks to be a good deal for Greinke.

As mentioned in a recent Rob Neyer article, the fact that the Kyle Farnsworth and Wille Bloomquist contracts can be "absorbed" is irrelevant, it's the opportunity cost of signing two bad players that hurts you. The Royals had a tantalizingly easy task before them heading into the off-season: improve 1st base, Left field and the pitching staff. I mean, you're committed to Gordon, Dejesus, Aviles, and Butler; you can't move Guillen; and Buck/Olivia aren't going to kill you behind the dish.

So what do they do? Sign Mike Jacobs, who is absolutely terrible (bad D, awful OBP). Trade for Coco Crisp who, with the exception of 2007, has been a marginal defensive center fielder and doesn't get on-base, and then throw money at Bloomquist/Farnsworth. That's just stupid.

According to UZR, Dejesus has been pretty decent in CF pretty much his whole career. Even if he's only passable to medicore going forward, his bat plays well-above average there. Why move him off the position, to one with a much, much higher threshold for offensive production when the guy you are replacing him with (Crisp) may or may no be a better defender?

Instead they could have bid for a real hitter in LF (Dunn/Burrell/Bradley/Abreu), found a warm body to play 1B, and held onto the arms you traded for Crisp/Jacobs. But that's just me.

I think the Jacobs trade is more defensible - they traded away a reliever with questions of his own to get him.

Despite Jacobs' OBP issues - he's still a reliable 100-105 OPS+ player. That's replaceable at 1B, but the Royals were running Ross Gload out there in 2008 fer chrissakes. I don't think they'll be overpaying for him (have they signed him? I think he's arb eligible for the first time this year) relative to what he'll give them.

There's a big difference between paying a moderately below average 1B a going rate - and paying 1.5 million to a guy who probably isn't worth a AAA roster spot and a fungible middle reliever who occasionally masquerades as a setup guy.

I draw the warm body line at the starting lineup and the top half of the rotation - I'd like a pulse there, too.... 25th man? 3rd or 4th reliever? That's warm body territory... If you play that game in the starting lineup, you might end up with Ross Gload.

BTW - since I've always considered the AL something to do when the NL has an off day... whatever happened to Ryan Shealy? I assume he got hurt, sent a Turkish prison, or something?

Shealy will supposedly be given a chance to try out for the 1B job, but I don't know how you can have Butler and Jacobs and Shealy all on the same roster. There have been some rumors of Butler being dealt, because the Royals don't like his work ethic, but I would imagine Shealy gets dumped just before spring training.

I don't know what they'll do with Gload. The smart thing to do is outright release him, but the smart thing to do was also not give him a two year deal and play him every day.

Seems like a poor deal for the Royals. Even if Greinke won his arb hearing this year, he'd only get $4.4M. If he repeated his 2008 season, he might get $8M in 2010. That leaves the Royals buying out 2 years of free agency for $25.6M--which is essentially what Dan Haren signed his extension for (2 free agent years bought out for $25.5M).

That seems like a lot of risk for the Royals (they essentially had him for 2009 with an option for 2010) without much potential reward.

They probably wouldn't have had much of a chance to get those two years of free agency they bought out if they sat on their hands during the arb years. This show of faith keeps him in KC for his first 2 FA years for sure and gives them a better chance to keep him in KC for all of his peak.

the Joe Burke Special Achievement Award winner for 2008

sounds like the award for best pitcher in tee-ball.