Baseball in Fort Wayne

The New York Yankees have obtain former Fort Wayne Wizard, Freddy Guzman, from the Baltimore Orioles for a player to be named later or cash.

Guzman started the year in the Mariners’ organization, but lost his chance with the team after breaking a bone in his hand. He signed a Minor League contract with Baltimore after being released from Seattle and has played 95 games for Triple-A Tacoma, Pawtucket and Norfolk this season. He batted .218 with two homers, 16 RBIs and 38 stolen bases.

He was a highly regarded prospect when he first began his professional career. Baseball America lauded his game-changing speed as he came up in the Padres system. While playing in Fort Wayne during 2002, he hit .279 with 53 hits and 39 stolen bases over 190 at-bats. He was San Diego’s #3 ranked prospect in 2004 and #2 in 2005. But he missed that season with an elbow injury and his prospect status dimmed.

The Padres brought him back on a one-year contract in 2006, but traded him to the Texas Rangers along with Cesar Rojas that May for Vince Sinisi and John Hudgins. A year later, the Tigers traded Chris Shelton to the Texas Rangers for Freddy. Last year with Detroit, he stole 71 bases while splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A.