RELEASES: Guillen and Rule 5 Draft

It’s official. The Royals agreed to terms with outfielder Jose Guillen. Here is the release from Media Relations…

NASHVILLE, TN (Dec. 6, 2007) – The Kansas City Royals have agreed to terms on a three-year Major League contract with free agent outfielder Jose Guillen. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

“In Jose, we feel we have acquired an impact bat from the right side of the plate,” Royals General Manager Dayton Moore said. “He has a proven Major League track record of success and we are looking forward to seeing him in the lineup in Kansas City.”

Guillen, 31, is an 11-year Major League veteran who spent the 2007 season with the Seattle Mariners, hitting .290 with 28 doubles, 23 home runs and 99 RBI in 153 games. He finished second on the club in RBI and home runs, falling one run batted in shy of his second career 100-RBI season (104 in 2004 with Anaheim). Guillen, who throws and hits from the right side, hit .362 (50-for-138) against left-handed pitchers, the second-best mark in the A.L. He set a Mariners club record and ranked fourth in the A.L. with 19 hit by pitches while hitting .329 with eight home runs and 36 RBI in 39 games against A.L. Central opponents. Guillen finished the 2007 season strong, hitting over .300 in each of the final three months with 14 combined home runs.

A native of San Cristobal, Dominican Republic, the 6-foot, 215-pounder is a career .274 hitter with 166 home runs and 673 RBI in 1,268 games for the Pirates (1997-1999), Devil Rays (1999-2001), Diamondbacks (2002), Reds (2002-03), A’s (2003), Angels (2004), Nationals (2005-06) and Mariners (2007). With the exception of 2006, a season in which he missed 93 games due to injuries, he has topped the 20-home run mark in every season since 2003, recording a career-best 31 in 2003 with Oakland and Cincinnati.

And, in other news from the Media Relations department Thursday morning…

RULE 5 DRAFT SIGNING: The Kansas City Royals selected left-handed pitcher Ray Liotta from the Chicago White Sox’s Birmingham roster in the Triple-A Phase of the Rule 5 Draft in Nashville, Tenn. Earlier, the Royals chose not to select a player in the Major League Phase.

Liotta, 24, split his 2007 season with Class A Winston-Salem and Double-A Birmingham. He posted a combined record of 4-14 with a 5.89 ERA in 28 games (27 starts). The 6-foot-3, 220-pounder from Metairie, La., was a second-round draft pick of the White Sox in 2004. He made an immediate splash, leading the Pioneer League with a 2.54 ERA in 2004 at Great Falls. The following season, he led the South Atlantic League with a 2.26 ERA at Kannapolis. Following the 2005 season, he was named the South Atlantic League’s Most Outstanding Pitcher as well as a Topps Class A All-Star.

The Royals did not lose a player in the Major League phase of the draft. Right-handed pitcher Gabe DeHoyos, who spent a majority of the 2007 season with Class AA Wichita, was selected by the San Diego Padres in the Triple-A phase.