Royals enjoy quiet Day 3 of Winter Meetings

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Day 3 of the 2015 Winter Meetings came and went with more of the same for the Royals and general manager Dayton Moore: Numerous inquiries and conversations, but precious little movement toward any deals.

The Royals, still in the market for a corner outfielder and another starting pitcher, found the asking prices for each too much. Moore said he was not frustrated, though a deep free-agent outfield class continued to have sticker prices out of the club's financial reach.

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"There's very rarely frustration," Moore said from his suite at the Opryland Hotel. "The free-agent market is what it is. Truth is, the music is going to stop and there won't be enough chairs for some of these guys."

Former Royals All-Star Alex Gordon is among that deep outfield pool, though likely at a tier below Jason Heyward and Yoenis Cespedes. The Royals are monitoring the Gordon situation, though not actively in any type of negotiations.

"Someone is going to set the market," Moore said. "It doesn't matter who. But the market doesn't matter that much [to us]. It's about the player -- do we believe in the player for 2016 or for the future?"

Does Moore believe the Royals will have enough financial flexibility to make a pitch to Gordon?

"I don't know. We'll see," Moore said. "I don't know the answer to that.

"I don't know because I don't know what [the asking price] will ultimately be. We're still in the market for an outfield bat [which could be Gordon]. But we also know this: If we do nothing in the outfield, we'll still be very good defensively at the corner outfield -- we'll have speed and upside with Jarrod Dyson, Paulo Orlando and Brett Eibner and Reymond Fuentes. Jose Martinez isn't the defender those guys are but has offense. We'll see."

One free agent the Royals never appeared close to landing was Ben Zobrist, who signed a four-year deal with the Cubs for $56 million. Zobrist was introduced at the Meetings on Wednesday.

Moore wouldn't indicate how involved the Royals were in negotiations with Zobrist.

"We did the best we could with Ben and it just didn't work out," Moore said. "I think he wanted to go play for the Cubs and that's where his heart was."

Even if the Royals don't make another move here, Moore already has deemed the Meetings a success. Kansas City signed right-hander Chris Young, and agreed to terms with right-handed reliever Joakim Soria.

"We're a better team now than we were three days ago," Moore said. "We like our team a great deal. We trust in our players. We're confident we're going to be able to make strong additions to this team -- well-rounded additions as we move forward."