Vladimir Guerrero’s Resurgence in Texas
The Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim do not look too smart right now. The Angels decided this past offseason that they would not offer former AL MVP Vladimir Guerrero a contract. Guerrero went on to sign with division rival Texas Rangers and has been tearing up the league like the old Guerrero many remember.
The 35-year old has had a fantastic career despite having many injury problems. Those problems were likely due to playing on astral-turf when he played at Olympic Stadium as a member of the Montreal Expos at the early part of his career.
When the Angels chose not to sign him, the Rangers decided to take a chance and offered Guerrero a one year contract. He has made an impact right from the stat as he broke up a no-hitter against the Toronto Blue Jays on opening day. This season he has answered his critics as he is among the AL leaders in RBIs, batting average and OPS.
Funny considering, it was seen as a huge risk to sign Guerrero due to his age, injury problems and declining production. Baseball Prospectus stated in a report: “"He's lost what little patience he developed over the years, and has become more hacktastic with time's passing. Guerrero had a pretty amazing 10-year run, but if you're looking for any of that when you go to sign him this winter, then you're going to get what you deserve. He's good. He still has his uses—healthy and as a full-time DH, many AL clubs could use his services—but banking on that at this stage may be foolhardy." Guerrero has proven that he was worth the risk from Texas.
Guerrero has been known to have a rocket for an arm and an uncanny ability to hit pitches outside the strike-zone. He initially was a part of the Los Angeles Dodgers training camp but grew frustrated of the system and signed with the Expos in 1993.
As a member of the Expos minor league team, he emerged as a promising young slugger. In 1994 he batted .314. In 1996 he was moved to AA and batted .360 with 24 home-runs and 96 RBIs. He was briefly called up in 1996 with the Expos for nine games and hit his first home-run.
He played with the Expos full time from 1997-2003. At first he was criticized for being too aggressive at the plate but the complaints dwindled down when his production told the whole story. Guerrero even once hit a pitch off a bounce at home plate. The scorn quickly turned into admiration and he won the hearts of Expos fans. Due to the team’s impending departure for Washington, Guerrero then signed with the then Anaheim Angels following the 2003 season.
Guerrero spent five seasons with the Angels. In 2004 he scored 124 runs for a team record, he batted .337 and led the Angels to the AL West division title. His late season heroics won him the 2004 AL MVP award. He finished the season with 39 home runs and 126 RBIs.
The Angels won their division in five of Guerrero’s six seasons with the team. He has served mostly as a designated hitter due to his injury problems and he now enjoys that role with the Rangers. Heading into the All-Star break, Guererro has helped the Rangers to the lead in the AL West and has shown that he’s still got some good baseball left in him.
Now we can’t know how far Guerrero can lead the Rangers or how much baseball he has left but Guerrero’s loyal followers have to be enjoying what he is accomplishing at this stage of his career. One can only wonder how great he’d be had he stayed healthy for most of his career.
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