Baseball in Fort Wayne

Posts Tagged ‘freddy guzman’

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.

Padres’ youth movement hits Triple-A Portland hard: Several former Fort Wayne players; including Kyle Blanks, Will Venable, Mat Latos and Greg Burke have seen big league action this year. It’s also spelt a drain on talent for Triple-A Portland. With the likelihood of others (such as Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby winner, Chad Huffman) trickling onto the Padres’ roster in the coming weeks, the chances of Portland improving upon their league worst win-loss record doesn’t look good.

Speaking of Kyle Blanks, he’s starting to earn more widespread attention:

• Nick Canepa (Union Tribune) suggests he has a shot to be legendary
• Dan Hayes (North County Times) shoots the  breeze

Speaking of Will Venable, the former Wizards outfielder has been fortunate enough to play under close tutilage of his father, Max Venable, a former big leaguer who used to be the hitting coach in Fort Wayne. But apparently it was his mother’s advice that kept her son in baseball rather than the pursuit of hooop dreams. See Also: Venable Has Been a Quick Study.

Former Wizards skipper, Randy Ready has been promoted to the Padre’s hitting coach. Probably a move that also is intended to help keep him in the organization rather than jumping ship to be a big league manager when teams start interviewing to fill soon-to-be vacancies.

Mat Latos is also drawing a lot of acclaim since rising from Fort Wayne to the big leauges earlier this season. He netted his first MLB win in his second start. He allowed two runs over 5 2/3 innings in a 6-2 Padres’ win over the Washington Nationals. He went seven innings in his next start before allowing former Wizards, Michael Ekstrom and Burke to finish his win in a game that also saw a Blanks homer.

While it’s early to call Latos the next San Diego ace of the staff, it’s probably refreshing news following the trade of the former incumbant, Jake Peavy, to the White Sox. In fact, Friday night, Latos gave up seven runs and eight hits in four-plus innings, leading to a 9-2 loss to the Cardinals. The 21-year-old had won his last four starts and was the first Padres pitcher in history to win four of his first five career starts.

More Latos:

• Latos Has Look of Potential Ace – SignonSanDiego
• Latos knows he must control emotions – SignonSanDiego
• It’s early, but there’s a lot to like about Latos – SignonSanDiego
• Latos leads rookie barrage in victory – MLB.com
• Latos Strong in Second Start – Another Padres Blog
• New kid Latos tough vs. Braves – SignonSanDiego
• Quick glance at Latos through PITCHf/x - Another Padres Blog
• Latos’ Early Struggles Against Lefties - FanGraphs
• Latos Shows Promise in Debut – Friar Forum
• Better Latos than Never – San Antonio Missions
• Mission Accomplished: Latos Nails Down First Win – SignonSanDiego
• Calling on Latos – Friar Forecast

On another Jake Peavy note, the former Wizard and Padre has begun his rehab work with the White Sox. He struck out five in his first assignment.

TinCaps right hander, Simon Castro took the seventh Midwest League honor earlier in the month when he was selected as MWL Pitcher of the Week for the week ending Augst 2nd. At the time, he was leading the league in strikeouts with 125 and had just concluded two dominant startswhere he allowed just one run while struck out out 15 over ten innings.

Current White Sox catcher, A.J. Pierzynski hopes to remain in Chicago but realizes tha the might have to try the free agent waters if the up and coming (and cheaper) competition continue to press.

Off the DL: Nick Hundley, Torii Hunter

Taking a Look at the Padres Prospects (requires MadFriars subscription):

• Doug Dascenzo
• Tom Tornicasa
• Tom Bradley

Speaking of MadFriars, FriarForecast recently caught up with John Conniff following his trip to Fort Wayne. He provides his take on the new erea of baseball in Fort Wayne

Wizards Where R They?

• Paul McAnulty: After being released by Boston, McAnulty signed with the Colorado Rockies. He’s now playing with the Triple-A SkySox.
• Jose Lobaton: The Tampa Bay Rays claimed the catcher off waivers from the Padres and assigned him to Double-A Montgomery.
• Freddy Guzman: Now playing in Triple-A Norfolk with the Orioles organization.
• Josh Barfield: After not getting claimed off waivers, Barfield was outrighted from Indian’s 40-Man Roster.

Finally, Paul DePodesta shares his thoughts on the current prospects in the Padres’ system. Many of them are former Wizards/TinCaps.

Former Fort Wayne Wizards outfielder, Freddy Guzman broke the hammate bone in his right hand during Seattle’s intrasquad game yesterday. He was in the Mariner’s camp trying to win a bench role with the team. He will require surgery to remove the bone and will likely miss 4-6 weeks.

“I just swung, hit a foul ball and felt the pain,” Guzman said. “I knew something was wrong.”

The hamate bone is a wedge-shaped bone that is located near the wrist. Ken Griffey Jr. had a similar injury in his right hand in 1996 and returned in just three week’s time.

Guzman is a non-roster invitee of the Mariners this spring. Guzman was highly regarded by Baseball America for his game-changing speed when he came up in the Padres system. While playing in Fort Wayne during the 2002 season, 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 whole 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 along with Cesar Rojas that May to the Texas Rangers for Vince Sinisi and John Hudgins. A year later, the Texas Rangers 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.

The Seattle Mariners have invited Freddy Guzman to Spring Training.

Luis Cruz is not at the Pitsburgh Pirate’s voluntary mini-camp because of his commitment to take part in the Rookie Career Development Program.

Eddie Bonine will particiapte in the Detroit Tigers’ Winter Caravan next week.

David Freese is in Illinois tomorrow for autograph signings:

12:30pm – Round Barn Banquet Centre, 1900 Round Barn Rd, Champaign, Illinois

6:00pm – Decatur Conference Center & Hotel, 4191 US Hwy 36 West, Decatur, Illinois

Lots of items being written about Wizards alumni lately. I’ve been sitting on a few of the links, so they may be a bit older, but are still relevant and worth the read. Feast on these:

Anthony Contreras (Former Saltdogs Still Chasing Big-League Dreams) is one of a handful of former Lincoln Saltdogs who have gone from Indy leaguer to minor league prospect.

Matt Teague (Relief on the way with Teague) discusses his transition from starting pitcher to reliever, changing his mechanics and his unexpected adventures at Triple-A.

David Freese is the subject of a solid Prospect Watch at rotoprofessor. Cardinals’ general manager John Mozeliak has also stated that Freese may see time at several positions during Spring Training; which is why they aren’t pursuing a backup at first or third during the offseason.

Kyle Blanks’ future with San Diego may be as trade material due to being sandwiched between Adrian Gonzalez and Allan Dykstra according to Marc Hulet at FanGraphs. Speaking of Blanks, he is number three on Project Prospects top five prospect risers in the San Diego System. Kellen Kulbacki, Cedric Hunter, Chase Headley and Steve Garrison are the others. Observers will also note that local native, Jarrod Parker makes the cut ont he Arizona list.

Luis Cruz, according to Black and Gold, still remains a viable option for the Pirates’ infield; especially if Jack Wilson is traded.

Jon Link’s walk rate went up a bit when he went from High-A to Double-A ball. SoxMachine has a theory.

JJ Furmaniak got his MLB cup of coffee with the Pirates and A’s then played 2008 in Japan after refusing his outright from Oakland. He’s back in the homeland. The Phillies gave him a non-roster invite to Spring Training. Speaking of Japan, Dirk Hayhurst’s latest NonProspect Diary talks about the Japan route a minor leaguer might take.

Freddy Guzman was traded by the Rangers to the Tigers for Chris Shelton in 2007. The Dalla Observer rates that trade a C and thinks Guzman still has a chance to be a qualify fourth outfielder.

Cory Doyne was granted free agency from Baltimore.

Matt Bush has added a new pitch. Changeup.

Former Wizards pitching coach, Steve Webber will serve in that role with San Antonio in 2009. JoJo Tarantino, who has worked with the Wizards the last three seasons, will be the Missions’ Athletic Trainer next season. former Wizards skipper, Randy Ready, is back for another round at Triple-A Portland after flirting with the job in Seattle during the offseason. Another former Wizards pitching coach, Wally Whitehurst will serve the role for the Pittsburgh Pirate’s High-A Lynchburg squad.

Finally, several former Wizards pop up on top prospect lists all over the web. Some of them include; Baseball Intellect [1-5] and [6-15], Padres Rundown [top 25], MadFriars’ (subscription required) Denis Savage [top 60] and John Conniff’s [top 30], Ducksnorts’ [top 10],