The trading block is open. There are rumors about a number of players who are being made available by general managers. Among them is Dominican Republic-born Juan Cruz, who currently throws relief for the Kansas City Royals. Cruz, who signed a two-year deal with the Royals in February, 2009 is being shopped around by GM Dayton Moore who is willing to unload the right-hander and pick up salary from another franchise. While no biters have been reported yet, it’s still early in the season.

Cruz has been one of those versatile pitchers throughout his career. He’s spent time with the Cubs, Braves, Athletics and Diamondbacks before landing with the Royals and has primarily been used as a reliever, but has had stints as a spot starter. He has a career 4.14 ERA with 579 strikeouts in 570.0 innings pitched. He’s had an issue with walks, allowing 298 free passes over the course of his career. Still, Cruz is a useful part of any bullpen.

The not-so-hotbed that is Kansas City has been making strides to improve their team over the last decade. The Royals haven’t been to the postseason since they won the World Series in 1985, and haven’t finished higher than third in their division since their 70-74 finish in 1995 when they finished second. It’s been a rough decade and a half, and despite additions like Zack Greinke to the fold, the future doesn’t look very promising either.

The fact that Kansas City is reportedly willing to take on salary in order to get rid of Cruz does not say much about what the team thinks of their reliever. Still, maybe all that is needed is just a change of scenery. Teams unload players based on behavior all the time, and while this may not be the case in this situation, you can probably expect to see Cruz moving out of Kansas City sooner than later.