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Carlos Alfonso Guillén [ghee-YEN] (born September 30, 1975) is a Major League Baseball shortstop and switch-hitter batter who plays for the Detroit Tigers. He was born in Maracay, Aragua State, Venezuela.
Guillén was signed by the Houston Astros as a non-draft amateur free agent in 1992. He was traded to the Seattle Mariners with pitcher Freddy García in the deal that sent Randy Johnson to the Astros. Guillén made his debut in 1998 and was traded to Detroit at the end of the 2003 season.
Coming from a long tradition of Venezuelan shortstops, which has produced the likes of Chico Carrasquel, Luis Aparicio, Dave Concepción, Ozzie Guillén and Omar Vizquel, and the young stars Alex González and César Iztúris as well, Guillén was forced to switch at second and third with incumbent Alex Rodriguez at short. But A-Rod moved to Texas after the 2000 season, allowing Guillén to move back to his natural position. He had a solid campaign in his first full-season with the club.
Guillén enjoyed his first highlight in Game 3 of the 2000 ALDS, when he hit a perfect squeeze play in the bottom of the ninth inning to score Rickey Henderson and complete the Mariners' sweep of the Chicago White Sox. In September 2001 Guillén was hospitalized after being diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis, but he was ready for the ALCS against the Yankees.
Over the years, the holes in Guillén's swing have gotten smaller, and some have disappeared altogether. In the field, he has good range with a strong arm and turns the double play reasonably well.
Guillén showed the perfect components that fitted together in a young and restructured 2004 Tigers team. In a career year he led his club in home runs (20), RBI (97), runs (97), doubles (37), triples (10), total bases (283), slugging percentage (.542), OPS (.921), and his .318 batting average was only second to .334 of teammate Ivan Rodriguez. Guillén also got his first All-Star berth.
Guillén is a career .277 hitter with 49 home runs and 308 RBI in 624 games. Some baseball analysts still believe that he will be a fine player in 2005, just as he was in 2004.
2004 Highlights
- All-Star
- 3rd in AL in triples
- 6th in AL in batting average
- 8th in AL in slugging percentage
- 8th in AL in OPS
External links
- Carlos Guillén at:
- Baseball Reference (analysis and career statistics) (http://www.baseball-reference.com/g/guillca01.shtml)
- ESPN (profile and daily statistics) (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/players/profile?statsId=6105)
See also