The Kansas City Royals' Jose Guillen Sucks – Just Ask Him…

When Kansas City Royals’ GM Dayton Moore signed OF Jose Guillen to a three-year contract worth $36 million before the 2008 season, it left me scratching my head. My initial reaction to this was: “Really? Isn’t he kind of a loser?” Yes, that is harsh, but a fair assessment.

The Royals were going to pay a guy $12 million per year who only played over 150 games just twice since 1997, who has been a pain in the butt everywhere he has played, and has little interest in working the count. It made no sense. If a small market team is going to spend $36 million on a player, that player better be special. Guillen is not special.

Now, a year and a half into his three contract, not only do Royal fans think Guillen is nothing special and quite frankly sucks, but Guillen himself thinks the same. Here some feel good comments from the so-called Royals’ slugger:

"

“I hate making excuses,” he said. “If I suck, then I suck. And I suck. That’s the way I’m playing. If you suck, you suck. You have to take responsibility in this game. Right now, that’s the way I feel.

“Yes, I suck.”

"

Well there you have it. Wait, there’s more:

"

“I’m embarrassed by the money that I’m making,” Guillen said, “and playing the way I’ve been playing. I’ll swear that on my kids’ (lives). I feel very embarrassed.

“Sometimes, I feel I should take money out of my own pocket and buy tickets for every fan. Because you know what? For a $12-million man, these are not the numbers you should be expecting. I admit it. I’m not playing to my potential.”

"

I have a couple of thoughts on Guillen’s comments. First, I actually applaud Guillen for coming out and admitting he has not played up to par. Guillen is hitting just .243 with nine HR’s and 37 RBI in seventy six games. Pretty poor stats all around. It’s not often you see a player just come out and admit he sucks, so kudos to Guillen for that.

Second, I don’t think Guillen should be embarrassed about his season. Dayton Moore is the one who should be embarrassed for signing Guillen in the first place. He should also be embarrassed for signing Kyle Farnsworth, trading for Mike Jacobs, giving Sidney Ponson a roster spot, and recently trading for Yuniesky Betancourt.

It’s no surprise that with these cast of characters the Royals are 37-54 and in fourth place in the AL Central. How can Dayton Moore look someone in the eye and say “I expected to win with Ponson, Guillen, Farnsworth, and Betancourt on the roster?”

I think Jose Guillen sums up the Royals’ season very nicely by saying, “It’s just not working. We all suck as a team. That’s the way it is. It’s not a problem with one individual. It’s about 25 guys. Right now, we suck.”

You got that right Jose.