Freddy Guzman Career Tracker

Table to come...

In case you don't believe me...

They finally listened to me

Obviously acting on my suggestion that they clear space on the 40-man roster by dumping center fielder Freddy Guzman before tomorrow's Rule 5 draft, the Rangers traded him to Detroit for a player to be named later this afternoon. It will not be Dontrelle Willis or Miguel Cabrera. But GM Jon Daniels did allow that it could be somebody who might be of use to the Rangers at the major league level in 2008. My question: Might it be first baseman/outfielder Chris Shelton, who was recently designated for assignment by Detroit. You might remember Shelton as the guy who went 8-for-16 against the Rangers with three homers and seven RBIs in five games in 2006.

We should now tomorrow after the Rule 5 draft. Oh, the anticipation.

By the way, I've finally discovered the No. 1 attraction at Opryland. It is one senior citizen in a snowflake sweater saying to another senior citizen in a snowflake sweater: "Which way are we going?"

I agree, It's probably Shelton.

Not exactly Miguel Cabrera stats, huh?

What do we need him for?

The 107 OPS+ last year is nice but it's only a few ABs.....107 OPS+ isn't that great anyways.

catbox_9 wrote:

What do we need him for?

The 107 OPS+ last year is nice but it's only a few ABs.....107 OPS+ isn't that great anyways.

With Maybin gone, someone has to play CF in Toledo! Clevlen who?

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

What do we need him for?

The 107 OPS+ last year is nice but it's only a few ABs.....107 OPS+ isn't that great anyways.

With Maybin gone, someone has to play CF in Toledo! Clevlen who?

Ooh...that makes sense! I was thinking wrongly or something...

catbox_9 wrote:

bobrob2004 wrote:

catbox_9 wrote:

What do we need him for?

The 107 OPS+ last year is nice but it's only a few ABs.....107 OPS+ isn't that great anyways.

With Maybin gone, someone has to play CF in Toledo! Clevlen who?

Ooh...that makes sense! I was thinking wrongly or something...

He looks like Kenny Lofton!

It is Chris Shelton...

-- The Tigers have already made one other minor deal today. They've acquired center fielder Freddy Guzman from Texas for a player who will be named after tomorrow's Rule 5 draft. And that player will be . . . Chris Shelton.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Tigers were dealing again on Wednesday, this time with a smaller swap. Detroit sent former slugging first baseman Chris Shelton to Texas in exchange for outfielder Freddy Guzman, ending one of the more mercurial careers in recent Tigers history.

Detroit selected Shelton in the Rule 5 Draft from the Pirates organization following the 2003 season, when they were looking for young talent wherever they could find it. In Shelton's case, it turned out to be a find. He had been a batting champion in the lower Minors, but hadn't shown an abundance of power until he started the 2006 season with a punch.

After beating out Carlos Pena for the starting job at first base, Shelton homered nine times in his first 13 games to start the season, making him an instant celebrity around baseball as a power hitter, when he had never been one before. He hit just .242 with seven home runs and 30 RBIs the rest of the way, and was eventually pushed out of his big league role when the Tigers acquired Sean Casey at the trade deadline.

Shelton, 27, spent the entire 2007 season at Triple-A Toledo, where he batted .269 with 14 home runs and 65 RBIs. He was designated for assignment last week to help make room for Kenny Rogers and reliever Francisco Cruceta on the 40-man roster. Detroit had 10 days to trade, release or outright him to the Minors if he had passed through waivers.

Guzman, who will turn 27 next month, is a speedy center fielder who spent parts of three different seasons in the big leagues with San Diego and Texas. He batted .269 in 133 games this past season with 22 doubles, four home runs, 34 RBIs and 56 stolen bases for Triple-A Oklahoma, leading the Pacific Coast League in steals.

Guzman played in eight games for Texas as a September callup, going 1-for-6. His one base hit, however, was a pinch-hit home run leading off the ninth inning against the Tigers last Sept. 11 at Comerica Park. It was his first and, so far, only big league home run.

bobrob2004 wrote:

Tigered...

Freddy Guzman....quicker than a virgin in a whorehouse!!

Who in the HELL is this now??!!

SoulRat wrote:

Who in the HELL is this now??!!

Freddy Guzmán
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freddy Antonio Guzmán (born January 20, 1981 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball outfielder who plays center field for the Detroit Tigers.

Guzmán was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Padres on April 17, 2000. He made his major league debut on August 17, 2004 going 1-5 with a walk. He hit in his first six games in the majors. Guzmán is well-known in the minor leagues for his base running. He had 264 stolen bases over six seasons.

He was ranked by Baseball America as the 2nd-best prospect in the Padres organization in 2004. In 2007, he came to Spring Training to compete with Kenny Lofton, Marlon Byrd and Jerry Hairston, Jr. for playing time in center field, but Guzmán did not make the opening day roster and played the entire season in AAA Oklahoma.

On December 6, 2007, Guzmán was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Shelton.

Duh!...

tigersaint wrote:

Freddy Guzman....quicker than a virgin in a whorehouse!!

What kind of metaphor is that? :/

bobrob2004 wrote:

SoulRat wrote:

Who in the HELL is this now??!!

Freddy Guzmán
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Freddy Antonio Guzmán (born January 20, 1981 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic) is a Major League Baseball outfielder who plays center field for the Detroit Tigers.

Guzmán was signed as a non-drafted free agent by the Padres on April 17, 2000. He made his major league debut on August 17, 2004 going 1-5 with a walk. He hit in his first six games in the majors. Guzmán is well-known in the minor leagues for his base running. He had 264 stolen bases over six seasons.

He was ranked by Baseball America as the 2nd-best prospect in the Padres organization in 2004. In 2007, he came to Spring Training to compete with Kenny Lofton, Marlon Byrd and Jerry Hairston, Jr. for playing time in center field, but Guzmán did not make the opening day roster and played the entire season in AAA Oklahoma.

On December 6, 2007, Guzmán was traded to the Detroit Tigers for Chris Shelton.

Duh!...

Duh yerself... like any normal human can keep up!

Freddy Guzman = Nook Logan

Must have IE...

Go get it then!

Mariners cut 10 from spring camp
Eight pitchers, two outfielders reassigned to Minors

PEORIA, Ariz. -- The traffic into and out of the manager's office on Tuesday at the Peoria Sports Complex was busy.

Eight pitchers and two outfielders were invited to spend their day off receiving some bad news. Their time in the big league camp was ending.

"One thing I told each and every one of them was that I sat in that seat about six times, so I know what it feels like," Mariners manager Don Wakamatsu said. "They were all professional about it. They understood going in that there was the lack of opportunity, in a sense."

Right-handed pitcher Luis Pena and left-hander Justin Thomas were optioned to Triple-A Tacoma; and right-handers Stephen Kahn and Marwin Vega were optioned to Double-A West Tennessee.

Right-handed pitchers Eric Hull, Luis Munoz and Denny Stark, left-hander Chris Seddon and outfielders Freddy Guzman and Prentice Redman were reassigned to the Minor League camp.

The roster cuts leave 50 players in camp, including 36 on the 40-man roster, 13 non-roster players and left-hander Ryan Feierabend, who is on the 60-day disabled list following Tommy John ligament replacement surgery on his pitching elbow.

"One good thing," Wakamatsu said, "is that they all got an opportunity to be seen. It's not like they got one or two at-bats or innings pitched, we sent them out nobody saw them. A guy like Redman had 40-something at-bats, so we got a good look at what he has to offer."

Redman, a 29-year-old non-roster invitee, led the team with 43 at-bats (through Tuesday). All eight of his hits were singles, and he drove in two runs.

It was not the same Redman that played for West Tennessee and Tacoma last season, the one who finished third among Mariners Minor Leaguers with 25 home runs and was fifth with 76 RBIs.

When camp opened five weeks ago, Thomas seemed to have a good chance of challenging for an Opening Day roster spot as a left-handed specialist. He showed promise during the final month of the regular season and warmed up for the spring test by pitching in Venezuela during the offseason.

But he was 0-2 with a 19.80 ERA in six relief appearances and averaged almost three baserunners in every inning he pitched.

"I told him I saw two different pitchers this spring," Wakamatsu said. "I saw one that came into a bases-loaded jam against Texas and he really came out aggressively, and I saw other outings when he was inconsistent and tentative. We're just looking for more consistency. He realized he needed more of that, and I think he understood that, too."

Wakamatsu said each of the players benefited from being around the Major League staff in their respective departments.