By Jeffrey Flanagan
FOXSportsKansasCity.com
June 30, 2010
Royals outfielder Jose Guillen, whose name has been mentioned in trade rumors, wouldn't be opposed to staying in Kansas City and hinted that it might even happen if the Royals' suddenly catch fire.
"It all depends on what happens over the next 30 days," Guillen told FOXSportsKansasCity.com. "If we start doing well, if we start winning, you never know what can happen.
"I don't know. It all depends if we're winning. If we're out of it? Well, if we're out of it, and I'm making all this money, it's hard for them to keep me. I understand that."
Guillen, who is finishing out a three-year, $36 million deal, acknowledged that it's tough not knowing what his future will be over the next few weeks.
But if Guillen's days are numbered in Kansas City, he said he will leave with mixed feelings.
"It's been good to me in a lot of ways and not good in some ways," he said. "I will tell the truth. Truth a lot of times hurts."
The truth, Guillen says, is that when he arrived in Kansas City he walked into an organization that had the wrong attitude.
"This organization when I came here, it was not what I thought it was going to be," he said. "The atmosphere. I was expecting a lot of fire and winning attitude. And it wasn't any of that.
None of that.
"I tried to say some things and do some things to change the atmosphere and then people went 'Oh, here goes Jose Guillen again.' But, hey, I don't like to babysit guys. You try to tell young guys some things, they get their feelings hurt. That's Little League stuff."
The Royals' biggest sin as a team?
"Fundamentally, this is one of the worst teams in all of baseball. This is true," Guillen said.
"I've been here for three years. I know everything that's going on . We're one of the worst teams fundamentally. Why do we get 14 or 15 hits and we score one or two runs. How does that happen? Lack of concentration. Lack of being smart.
"Players think it's all about hitting home runs. Drive in runs. That's what will get them paid instead of moving the runner or getting the guy to second. I just don't see that respect for the game, moving the runners.
"The team I really admire is the Minnesota Twins. They do that so well. I love when we play them because that's what I want our guys to see. They (the Twins) are the smartest team in all of baseball.
