He’s a Character, All Right

The hot-stove talk says the Royals are interested in Jose Guillen, a tantrum-prone slugger who has spent time in eight different organizations.

If the Royals import Guillen’s right-handed stick, Dayton Moore, the team’s general manager, stands to take a credibility hit. Since taking over in 2006, Moore has spoken frequently about building a team of upstanding citizens. “I would not hire someone unless I believed in his character,” Moore told Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski a year ago. “I would not draft or sign anyone unless I believed in his character. I learned that lesson a long time ago. We will have a team Kansas City can be proud of, I promise you that.”

Moore’s “promise” will feel a little cheap, however, if he were to add Guillen’s lifetime .447 slugging average to the lineup. Witness these events in the combustible player’s past: