Jones can't be dealt till June anyway and I actually think you would find a market for him -- I believe a significant portion of his deal was in the signing bonus.... as long as the Cubs didn't try to pass that cost off on the acquiring team, I'm sure there would be a few GMs interested in JJ @ $3-4mil/year. Didn't the Royals make him the same 3 year / $15mil offer or even offer him more? There is not going to be a market for Jones, and Hendry isn't going to try and trade him. KC had an offer, it wasn't accepted, so they went elsewhere. They don't just have $15m laying around they want to spend. Jacque Jones of 3 years/$16M (2006-08 ) signed as a free agent 12/05 $4M signing bonus (paid 1/06 to 1/08 ) 06:$3M, 07:$4M, 08:$5M If we picked up the bonus and the first half of his salary this year, KC could probably afford $1.5 for this year, then 9 mil over '07 and '08. They could afford it, if it were made worth their while. I'm not sure making it worth their while would be worth it. I think that depends on what KC will do with their payroll. I get the gut feeling that if the Royals repeat like their performance in 2005 or worse, I think they'll probably shave off some of the payroll, which I don't think they'll have any wiggle room to try to get Jones.