Royals' efforts to acquire the Braves' Jurrjens stall

By BOB DUTTON

The Kansas City Star

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The hot stove grew warmer this week for the Royals, whose offseason efforts to bolster their rotation led to discussions with the Atlanta Braves regarding right-handed pitcher Jair Jurrjens.

Those talks stalled when the Braves, after offering to include infielder Martin Prado, asked the Royals to surrender minor-league outfielders Lorenzo Cain and Wil Myers.

The Royals are interested in Jurrjens and appear willing to deal Cain, whose path to the big leagues is blocked by a returning trio of Alex Gordon, Melky Cabrera and Jeff Francoeur.

Trading Myers, 20, is a different matter.

Although he is likely to return next year to Class AA Northwest Arkansas, Myers was picked recently by The Star as the organization’s best prospect. He is currently producing big numbers in the Arizona Fall League.

Jurrjens, 25, started just 43 games over the last two years because of injuries but went 13-6 last season with a 2.96 ERA. Prado, 28, slumped last season to .260 with a .302 on-base percentage after batting .309 with a .358 OBP over the three previous years.

Such a deal would also likely add roughly $10 million to the Royals’ payroll, which represents a major chunk of the club’s offseason war chest. Jurrjens and Prado are each eligible for arbitration after making $3.25 million and $3.1 million in 2011.

Paulino sparkles

Right-hander Felipe Paulino allowed one run in a four-inning start for a touring team of Major League players in a 6-2 victory over the Chinese Taipei national team at Taichung, China. The Major League team is 3-0 with two games remaining on the tour.

Rising Stars

Myers and three other Royals prospects are on the roster Saturday for the Arizona Fall’s League’s Rising Stars game from Surprise, Ariz. The game can be seen at 7 p.m. on MLB Network.

Infielder Christian Colon and right-handed pitchers Nate Adcock and Jeremy Jeffress are also members of the West roster. All four players play for the Surprise Saguaros, who have the AFL’s best record at 19-7.