Royals starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie signed a new three-year, $25 million contract on Tuesday, reports CBS Sports. Guthrie, 33, split time between the Rockies and Royals last season and was 8-12 with a 4.76 ERA. However, his numbers were much better with the Royals (5-3, 3.16 ERA).

Once the news was official, Guthrie tweeted,

3 more years in Kansas City! I couldn't be more pleased & excited! Thanks to the Royals & all the great fans for your support.👑—
Jeremy Guthrie (@TheRealJGuts) November 20, 2012

The Royals are reportedly focusing on building the team’s starting rotation this winter:

Earlier this offseason, the Royals — who are reportedly looking to spend some money on starting pitching this offseason — traded for starting pitcher Ervin Santana. For now, the rotation appears to be Santana, Guthrie, Luke Hochevar, Bruce Chen and Luis Mendoza.

Last season, the team finished third in the AL Central with a 72-90 record.

Colorado Rockies manager Jim Tracy announced on Tuesday that left-hander Jeremy Guthrie was being banished to the bullpen, and that the team will use a four-man rotation for the time being.

"We had to do something that was unconventional." Tracy on 4-man rotation—
Jorge Arangure (@jorgearangure) June 19, 2012

Each of the Rockies’ four starters — Alex White, Christian Friedrich, Josh Outman and Jeff Francis — will be on a 75-pitch limit. It’s quite a bold move given the makeup of the quartet: White is in his second season, Friedrich is a rookie and Francis signed three weeks ago after the Cincinnati Reds would not promote him to the big leagues. Moreover, Friedrich, Outman and Francis are all left-handers.

Colorado is in a bind with expected starters Jhoulys Chacin, Juan Nicasio and Jorge De La Rosa on the disabled list. More curious, though, is the decision to keep 23-year-old prospect Drew Pomeranz in Triple-A.

No word on how long this experiment will continue.

The Colorado Rockies are reportedly “aggressively trying to trade” pitcher Jeremy Guthrie. (Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)

The Colorado Rockies are “aggressively trying to trade” pitcher Jeremy Guthrie, who now has a 7.02 ERA and has given up a league-leading 15 home runs since he was traded by the Baltimore Orioles in February, according to Troy Renck of The Denver Post:

The possibility exists that Jeremy Guthrie has thrown his last pitch for the Rockies. Colorado is aggressively trying to trade the veteran right-hander and has talked with the Toronto Blue Jays, according to two major-league sources.

If the two teams were to strike a deal to move the pitcher out of Colorado, Renck said the Rockies would receive a minor-league prospect in return — who FoxSports.com is reporting would be Double-A first baseman Mike McDade  — and the Blue Jays would be stuck with the $4.9 million remaining on Guthrie’s $8.2 million arbitration contract.

The Rockies have been stumped not only by Guthrie’s poor performance since acquiring him but also his seemingly bizarre behavior, reported Renck. In his most recent start against Oakland, Guthrie tipped his hat to the crowd in the first inning and then again in the third after having given up six runs. Guthrie was just frustrated with himself, Renck reported, but admitted that his pitching has been affected more than he anticipated.