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Joel Guzman Clears Waivers
FRIDAY: No takers for Guzman; he cleared waivers.
TUESDAY: According to Marc Topkin of the St. Petersburg Times, the Rays designated Joel Guzman for assignment today. Guzman was once very highly regarded - Baseball America ranked him as the 5th best prospect in the game in '05 and 26th in '06.
The Dodgers signed Guzman as a 16 year-old for $2.25MM in '01. He played shortstop and received the team's minor league player of the year honor in '04. He was moved to left field to start '06, and Ned Colletti traded him to Tampa Bay in July for Julio Lugo. The Rays had him play first and third, and let him dabble at second. Guzman, 23 now, posted a .248/.276/.438 line in Triple A. He's never shown an ability to draw walks, and his much-heralded power hasn't shown up.
Guzman's tale exemplifies the uncertainty of prospects; BA had him above Scott Kazmir, Hanley Ramirez, Matt Cain, Prince Fielder, Chad Billingsley, and Carlos Quentin in '05.
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If you look at his MiLB numbers, he looks like a poor man's Brandon Wood without the smooth glove. Minor League free swingers with power seem to have the hardest time adapting to the MLB level.
Posted by: AA | September 09, 2008 at 05:44 PM
actually he is considered gold glove caliber at SS or 3B. He has surprising range for a guy that is 6'5" and fields everything cleanly.
The only thing holding him back is the lack of command in the strike zone. over 100 Ks and less than 20 walks in 110 games in triple-A is not good.
But he does have power when he connects. when he hits them they go a long way.
Posted by: Sean Gibson | September 09, 2008 at 06:27 PM
"actually he is considered gold glove caliber at SS or 3B. He has surprising range for a guy that is 6'5" and fields everything cleanly."
You looked at his MiLB numbers? He looks like Jose Offerman, not Omar Vizquel.
Posted by: AA | September 09, 2008 at 07:00 PM
no. i am going off of several quotes from different coaches and from having watched him play.
Posted by: Sean Gibson | September 09, 2008 at 07:11 PM
Offerman? ouch! that's not nice.
Posted by: mitch | September 09, 2008 at 07:17 PM
"no. i am going off of several quotes from different coaches and from having watched him play."
Look at the dude's numbers.
http://minors.baseball-reference.com/players.cgi?pid=6032
Massive numbers of errors and an unimpressive range factor, so you can't say he was booting balls because he got to them.
Posted by: AA | September 09, 2008 at 07:41 PM
I imagine if Guzman was even passable at SS he wouldn't have been moved off.
Posted by: Tim Dierkes | September 09, 2008 at 08:32 PM
"I imagine if Guzman was even passable at SS he wouldn't have been moved off."
Precisely, especially in Tampa, where that is the one glaring hole in their lineup.
Posted by: AA | September 09, 2008 at 08:43 PM
I figured Guzman was going to the O's as the PTBNL in the Chad Bradford trade.
Posted by: XD23 | September 09, 2008 at 11:31 PM
O's do need help at SS, and he's still young enough to develop quite a bit.
Posted by: mitch | September 10, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Guzman has cleared waivers. I am surprised someone like the Royals, Nats or Pirates wouldn't take a shot.
Posted by: Craig | September 12, 2008 at 08:55 PM
He's eligible for minor league free agency. No point in putting in a claim...
Posted by: ebajek85 | September 12, 2008 at 10:39 PM