Jose Guillen (AP)

Bradford Doolittle of the Kansas City Star had an interesting article on Jose Guillen this morning.

Guillen has received a lot of attention for his off-the-field actions and Jose-Being-Jose antics, but he really is not that good of a baseball player anymore, either. Doolittle makes some excellent points to bring this to light.

Listen, this is where I really get crusty on the Guillen story: In all these comments, it's sort of taken for granted that Guillen has been fine and productive on the field.

I'm sorry, but he hasn't. Guillen has been a disappointment. I didn't expect much. I know the usual career path for 32-year-old outfielders of Guillen's skill set, and I didn't figure he'd be worth nearly the amount the Royals are paying him. Still, I expected a little more than what he's offered.

The fatal flaw in his performance is, quite obviously, his on-base percentage (.291). Depending on which day you look, Guillen is one of the five-worst on-base players in the AL this season. This isn't just a poor showing in just another statistical category. This is a terrible performance in the most important statistical category.

Everyone gets excited about Guillen's 71 RBIs, but consider this: Only Alex Gordon has made more outs for the Royals this season, and he has more than 40 more plate appearances. If you're not getting on base, you're making an out, and each out brings your team closer to a loss.

Listen, while it is true that Guillen is leading the Royals with 16 home runs and 73 RBIs, he has not been a productive major league hitter at his position. As he discusses in the article, RBIs are more of a team-driven statistic, a completely misleading figure. His line of .264/.295/.462 does a better job of telling the whole story.

Doolittle is absolutely right. Although many of those who were inclined to comment under the article still are fooled by the overrated value of RBIs, the 32-year-old outfielder is not getting the job done at the plate. At all.

Of 64 outfielders who currently qualify for the batting title, Guillen ranks 45th in the majors with a .757 OPS. That is not exactly the production that a team expects when they decide to throw $12 million at a player.

Distractions aside, going on objective facts, the contract given to Jose Guillen already looks like a major mistake for the Royals.