Carlos Guillen

Carlos Guillen is out for the remainder of the season with an injury. I think he was the MVP for the Tigers this season, not Ivan Rodriguez as some might think. I want to review what an incredible season he had.

During the offseason the Tigers were looking for a good shortstop to anchor the middle of the field. At first they went after shortstop Rich Aurilia,but he wanted to play for who he thought would be a contender. He went to Seattle, Guillen's former team. After signing Aurilia, Seattle traded Guillen to the Tigers for some minor leaguers. Aurilia has since been released by Seattle, and Guillen made the All Star team for the Tigers. All Tigers fans are glad that Guillen and not Aurilia came to Detroit. During the middle of the season, the Tigers gave Guillen a 3 year contract extension to ensure that he will be in Detroit for a number of years.

Last season Guillen batted .276, hit just 7 homers, and batted in 52 runs in 109 games played. This season he batted .318, hit 20 homers, and batted in 97 runs in 136 games played and as I mentioned, he made the All Star team. He hit almost as many homers(20) in the last 3 seasons combined(21). He also almost had as many RBIs(97) as he did in the last 2 seasons combined(108). This season was by far his best ever. He had career highs in homers,hits,RBIs,doubles,triples,batting average,runs,stolen bases,at bats,on base percentage, and slugging percentage. Even though Detroit didn't make the playoffs or finish above 500, we still need to appreciate such a great season. In the last 15 or 20 years of Tigers baseball we haven't seen many great seasons like Guillen had in 2004. It soon won't be forgotten.

Now we look unto the future for this young superstar. Hopefully this season wasn't just a one year fluke. This season should be a sign of great things to come. He will be one of the key guys in leading the Tigers back into the playoffs.