According to reports Andruw Jones has signed with the Dodgers, bringing the Official Gold Club Andruw Jones Royals Watch ™ to a close. Maybe it was his own desire to do so, but it amazes me that Jones only got a two year deal, when lesser players at the same position have received much more security. With Jones apparently signed, it appears possibilities regarding the final day of the Winter Meetings have now withered down to seeing if anything happens with Bedard and Haren, and every team wondering if their guy will produce one of those out-of-the-blue signings. All in all, we've only had one exciting day out of three so far, and while the Rule 5/Rule V Draft will produce its share of buzz, I've always found the prospect game to be only a placeholder of sorts. Then again, we've got our own bit of Lubanski drama to track I suppose, and the whole occasion will be a nice excuse to remember Dayton's pickup of Soria, still the man's best move to date. Nevertheless, this year, the Royals might not even participate.
• Rob Neyer's handy transactions guide is a nice place to start on the rules of the Rule 5 Draft. I've also always enjoyed Neyer's crusade against the use of roman numerals here, "First off, note that it's not the "Rule V Draft," but the Rule 5 draft. It's called the Rule 5 draft because the section of the Official Rules that covers the draft just happens to be Rule 5 in the book.
• The Royals aren't concerned about Guillen's past, so don't even bring it up, ok!?!
• With the Royals hanging around the Kuroda and Fukudome chases, our Eppenweb suggests Hillman is a reason why.
• The Mets have entered the Santana fray.
• Rosenthal beats the drum for Santana-to-Seattle.
• Scott Rolen wants out in St. Louis, Tony La Russa says, essentially, "go to hell". Not to go all Scoop Jackson on you, but Rolen should be thankful he's a good ole boy from the midwest: he's hurt all the time, hates his manager, and is trying to force a trade. Yet, I've not seen too many "injury-prone malcontent" stories.
• Don't sleep on Cleveland just yet either, they might be out of the Bay talks with the Pirates, but I doubt they'll stand still.
• Christina Kahrl is chatting today at BP.
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