Empty the Bench

This afternoon the Detroit Tigers secured their starting shortstop for another four years, inking Carlos Guillen to a $48-million contract extension that will keep him in Tiger Town for the prime of his career. Major move by GM Dave Dombrowski to get this done before the season began, because Guillen repeatedly said that if it didn’t get done now, it would have to wait until after the playoffs were over. As you probably know, Guillen was set to become an unrestricted free agent, and though he’s long expressed his desire to stay in Detroit, everyone knows that when fat cats start throwing silly money around, anything can happen.

Guillen is a key cog in the Detroit batting order, and will likely hit either 3rd, 4th, or 5th this season, somewhere around Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez. Since arriving in Detroit before the 2004 season, Guillen has been hitting about .320 all three years. Last year, Guillen played in 153 contests, hitting .320 with 19 homers, 85 ribbies, .400 OBP, and 41 double-baggers. He should be in line to upgrade both his stats and his lifestyle this year.