Trey Hillman
On July 29, ESPN Deportes reported that José Guillén expressed his wish to be traded due to a bad relationship with manager Trey Hillman. When Guillén signed with Kansas City he knew the team wouldn't be a contender in 2008, but he was promised that moves would be made to build a winning team in 2009. Kansas City had not shown any interest in trading Guillén. The source said Guillén was ready to defer his salary for 2009 and 2010 if it were to help increase his value on the trading block. A "visibly upset" Guillén met with Hillman and denied the report. The trade deadline passed on July 31 and the Royals made no trades.