Jose Guillen is being designated for assignment by the Kansas City Royals.  Guillen was in his final year of his three-year contract of $36 million.  When he signed with the Royals three years ago, the $36 million contract made the outfielder the highest paid player ever per year.  By doing this, the Royals are saving about $4 million this season.

The Royals initially signed Guillen as a free agent after the 2007 season in hopes of strengthening their batting, which they were able to do successfully.  Signing with the Royals made Kansas City his ninth Major League club that Guillen has played with.  Guillen started his MLB career when he signed with the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1997.

In his first season with Kansas City, Guillen had 20 home runs and 97 runs batted in.  Last season, Guillen only appeared in 81 games due to injuries but has had a successful year this season. Prior to begin designated for assignment by the Royals, Guillen is leading Kansas with 62 runs batted in and 16 homers this season alone.  He was hitting a .255 average in his 106 appearances this year as well.

The Kansas City Royals will now have 10 days from Thursday to decide to trade, release, or put the outfielder on waivers. If a trade isn’t an option, another team looking for an outfielder and designated hitter will probably sign him pretty quickly.

During this time, the Royals also decided to select the contract of RHP Philip Humber from AAA Omaha.  27-year-old Humber, who was selected as the top pitcher last week for the Pacific Coast League, was 5-6 with the O-Royals for 21 games with an earned run average of 4.47.  Humber is currently expected to join the Kansas City Royals prior the commencement of Friday’s game against the Florida Mariners.

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