Jose Guillen to Giants? Looks like it.

Twitter rumors are going nuts right now. Enrique Rojas, an ESPN reporter for ESPNDeportes is reporting via Twitter that the Giants and Royals are close to completing a deal for the right fielder.

As of 11:15pm Pacific, the real ESPN doesn't have anything up. However, ESPN Deportes has the following article up (in Spanish). I took the liberty of translating it. It can be found here.

From Enrique Rojas, ESPN Deportes

ORLANDO, Fla. - The Kansas City Royals and San Francisco Giants worked early Friday to complete a trade that sent outfielder Jose Guillen to the Bay Area, said a source told ESPNdeportes.com/

If the move is completed, Guillen would fly from Miami to San Francisco in time to debut in the series that begins Friday between Giants and San Diego Padres. The Giants began the weekend to 2.5 games behind the Padres, who lead the Western Division of the National League.

Guillen was designated for assignment last Thursday by the Royals. The club has a period of 10 days, which expires on Saturday, to change, dismiss or reinstate the player. Guillen hit .266 with 16 homers and 52 RBIs as a designated hitter this season. San Francisco would play him in right field.

Guillen is in the final season of a 3 year/$36 million contract with Kansas City.



So, what it really sounds like is a deal that will probably send a lower level prospect or two... purely speculation, but perhaps a Ryan Rohlinger type, maybe even someone less well known. Regardless, this is an offensive upgrade for little to no cost in prospects.

Guillen is past his prime, but is still a dangerous right handed hitter with a strong arm. He is rather limited defensively, but then again, people said that about Aubrey Huff in the OF too.

Guillen is a relatively high strikeout guy like many power hitters, but has found a lot of success during his career. His finest season came in '04 with Anaheim when he hit 27 HR and 104 RBI.

In Kansas City he was seen as a lazy malcontent at times, ripped his teammates publicly, and in most ways, did not live up to his huge FA deal. Nevertheless, he is a capable player that should help the Giants during the playoff stretch and he seems to have settled down since his public rant last season.

I am concerned that this makes the lineup very right-handed, but it is still a lot better than what we started the year with.

Manny Burriss is the likely guy to get sent down to make room for Guillen. He will be recalled during the September roster expansion time. However the acquisition of Mike Fontenot on Wednesday made Burriss expendable.

Best Projected Lineup:

CF Torres (S)
2B Sanchez (R)
1B Huff (L)
C Posey (R)
LF Burrell (R)
3B Sandoval (S)
RF Guillen (R)
SS Uribe (R)

Bench: Schierholtz OF (L), Fontenot INF (L), Rowand OF (R), Ishikawa 1B (L), Eli Whiteside C (R)

Rotation: Lincecum (R), Zito (L), Cain (R), Sanchez (L), Bumgarner (L)

Bullpen: Romo (R), Casilla (R), Javier Lopez (L), Ramon Ramirez (R), Guillermo Mota (R), Chris Ray (R), Brian Wilson (R)

DL: Edgar Renteria (SS), Jeremy Affeldt (LHP), Dan Runzler (LHP)