LAS VEGAS | Royals general manager Dayton Moore sure sounds like a man who doesn&#8217;t want to trade outfielder Mark Teahen, even though Teahen no longer seems to have a regular position in the lineup.</p><p>&#8220;Mark Teahen is more valuable to our team today than he was a few weeks ago,&#8221; Moore insisted. &#8220;He&#8217;s a (high-) quality player who we feel will continue to get better.</p><p>&#8220;He can play multiple positions, which is obviously very important &#8212; even more so now with the depth that we have.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re trying to build a championship team. And to build a championship team, you&#8217;ve got to have multiple options with your team. Mark gives us those options. So he&#8217;s very valuable to us.&#8221;</p><p>Valuable enough to shell out more than $3 million &#8212; which Teahen figures to make next season through arbitration &#8212; for a utility player? That question draws a flat no from Moore.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re not going to pay a guy $3 million or more not to play,&#8221; he said.</p><p>That only leads to more questions as baseball&#8217;s annual winter meetings open today at the Bellagio hotel and casino. The meetings conclude Thursday with the Rule 5 draft.</p><p>Moore promises to be active, which probably means sifting through trade possibilities because the Royals, with the payroll already crowding a franchise-record $70 million, have little money available for a free-agent splash.</p><p>Probably.</p><p>&#8220;There is flexibility in the payroll to do some things,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;Obviously, we&#8217;d have to make some trades and look at some nontenders (to clear payroll), but that&#8217;s all predicated on what we&#8217;d be able to get in free-agency.</p><p>&#8220;If there&#8217;s something that really makes sense &#8230;&#8221;</p><p>For now, a trade seems more likely.</p><p>The Royals chafe at characterizing Teahen as a utility player, but the trades earlier this offseason to acquire first baseman Mike Jacobs and outfielder Coco Crisp seem to leave little room for regular duty.</p><p>The outfield now projects &#8212; left to right &#8212; as David DeJesus, Crisp and Jos&#233; Guillen. Since Teahen appears unlikely to reclaim third base from Alex Gordon, that leaves first base and designated hitter as the only alternatives.</p><p>Teahen could be the club&#8217;s best defensive option at first base, but that would probably force Jacobs and Billy Butler into platoon duty as the DH.</p><p>Even if the Royals find that acceptable &#8212; and do they really want to limit at-bats for Jacobs and Butler? &#8212; no space remains for Ryan Shealy, Ross Gload and Kila Ka&#8217;aihue.</p><p>That&#8217;s no problem for Ka&#8217;aihue who, barring a monster spring, figures to open the season at Class AAA Omaha. But Shealy is out of options, and Gload is under contract for a guaranteed $1.9 million.</p><p>Other teams see this, which is why Teahen has already been linked &#8212; to Moore&#8217;s irritation &#8212; in numerous trade rumors. The Indians, Braves, Cubs and others have expressed some degree of interest.</p><p>The Royals could, certainly, clear space for Teahen by trading someone else. Teams continue to ask about DeJesus. Guillen is available. Butler attracts interest. Nothing seems likely at this point.</p><p>&#8220;A lot of things can happen between now and opening day with regard to our roster,&#8221; Moore said. &#8220;As I&#8217;ve said many times over the last few months, we&#8217;re going to put the best team we can on the field.</p><p>&#8220;As we continue to massage message our roster and look to accomplish that, Mark Teahen is a part of what we want to do because he gives us flexibility.&#8221;</p><p><hr class="infobox-hr-separator" /> <div class="infobox"> <strong><span class="infobox-head">No arbitration for Grudzielanek </span></strong><br /> Second baseman Mark Grudzielanek, as expected, declined the Royals&#8217; offer of arbitration before Sunday&#8217;s deadline.</p><p> The decision means the Royals will receive a compensatory draft pick &#8212; a sandwich pick next June between the first and second rounds &#8212; if Grudzielanek signs with another team.</p><p>&#8220;We understood the potential (financial) exposure if we did offer him arbitration,&#8221; general manager Dayton Moore said.</p><p>Grudzielanek, 38, previously indicated he was likely to decline the offer in hopes of signing with a team &#8220;with a better (chance) to reach the World Series.&#8221;</p><p></div>