Carlos Guillen signs a ball while on rehab in Lakeland, Florida (via Lakeland Local)

Carlos Guillen has given us something we haven't had yet this offseason: a distraction from game 163 and a story for everyone to write about and obsess over. Jason Beck wrote for MLB.com about Guillen's issues concerning his position with the Detroit Tigers and just a few days later Jim Leyland responded that if Guillen produces, he'll get his wish. Beck elaborated on the issue in an interview to 1130 AM WDFN in Detroit, saying Guillen had been upset since September.

In light of this potential rift, I thought now would be a good time to look into Guillen's 2009 numbers, reflecting on the type of player he's been in the past and if we can expect an improvement in 2010. Read on for the full review.

2009 Notes

Guillen only played in 81 games in 2009, missing 82 due to his shoulder injury. He hit the 15-day DL on May 5th and missed the next 68 games. Initially, the damage to his shoulder didn't seem too serious; however, 20 days later Guillen still wasn't playing and had his shoulder reexamined.

Guillen started his rehab assignment in Single A-Advanced Lakeland on July 13th and returned to action on July 24th at Comerica in the first game of a doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Guillen wasn't batting from the right side of the box out of rehab and in September it was ruled out for the season. A week later Leyland announced that Guillen wouldn't start against lefties at all.

OFFENSE

April

Guillen had a poor start to his season. His 5 RBI this month put him on a horrible pace for the season with runners in scoring position. Four of his RBI came in the first seven games, managing only one RBI after April 13th. His OBP at .310 was uninspiring racking up 13 strikeouts and 5 double plays while walking eight times. His horrible slugging numbers came from just 17 hits, only getting to second base four times this month.

On April 12th against the Texas Rangers at Comerica, the Tigers were down 4-0 headed into the bottom of the 8th. The Rangers brought in C.J. Wilson to hold their lead but the Tigers went to work dismantling that score, quickly scoring two runs in four batters. After a Placido Polanco double and an error by Elvis Andrus allowing Curtis Granderson to reach, Miguel Cabrera was intentionally walked to loaded the bases for Guillen. He hit a 2-2 grounder into left allowing Granderson and Polanco to score, tying the game to set up a Tigers comeback win 6-4.

In a high-scoring affair against the Angels on April 22nd, the Tigers were down 8-6 headed into the top of the 7th and Guillen hit a single into center to load the bases for Gerald Laird. Scott Shields was yanked from the game after walking in a run off Laird, allowing Brandon Inge to single off Jose Arredondo, plating Cabrera and Guillen on a poor throw from Erick Aybar. The Tigers rallied for five runs this inning and, after an Inge solo shot in the 9th, would finish the game in the lead 12-10.

May/June

By the time May rolled around, it was well known that Guillen had been struggling at the plate. Guillen was hitting .200/.267/.244 overall when he was placed on the 15-day DL on May 5th. While the last four games of April had been bad, the four games he played in May were even worse. In 16 at-bats he only had one hit while striking out twice and hitting into one double play. He did plate a run on May 2nd against the Cleveland Indians in Detroit to give the Tigers insurance in the bottom of the 8th for a 9-7 Tigers victory.

When Guillen hit the DL for right shoulder inflammation on May 5th, he wouldn't be back to the Tigers until July 24th. On May 25th Jason Beck wrote a small story quoting Leyland as saying "I don't think he's doing good" while they awaited test results on Guillen's ailing shoulder. On June 5th the results of an MRI confirmed that while Guillen didn't need surgery he would have to undergo an aggressive rehab treatment. He began playing catch in Miami on June 25th to begin his rehab to work his way back to the Tigers.

July

Guillen was back with the Tigers on July 6th taking batting practice. He went down to Lakeland and AAA Toledo starting July 13th and was back with the Tigers on July 24th in time for the doubleheader against the Chicago White Sox. Placed in the DH spot to ease the workload on his his shoulder, he hit a respectable .310 in seven games while driving in eight runs. He was getting on base much better than he did in April and displayed a large jump in power by hitting two home runs in just nine hits in July. He did strike out eight times to three walks, posting a 2.66 K/BB ratio that can be explained by the small sample size as his season ratio was 1.49.

On July 24th in the doubleheader against the White Sox, Guillen was 3 for 7 with a home run and an RBI, striking out only once in an impressive first game back after missing 68 games. His true "come back moment" came the next day, also against the White Sox. The game went to extras tied 3-3 and following two singles by Clete Thomas and Cabrera, Guillen capitalized on Thomas' speed to plate him with a walk-off single.

August

Guillen had a fine August, playing solely in the DH slot until August 12th when he substituted at 1B so Cabrera could get some rest. He played 26 games in August and drove in 15 runs, all of which came from August 11th to the 31st. He displayed more of the same from his July return in terms of OBP and slugging; his power was driven by two doubles, a triple and six home runs. He was 24 for 86 this month, posting a respectable .279 for someone coming off such a long hiatus. He regained some of his plate discipline, keeping his strikeouts to just 13 and walking 10 for a ratio of 1.30 which was just under his season-long tally.

As I mentioned above, Guillen batted poorly with runners in scoring position to start off the month as he plated none of them but kept his average up going 9 for 32. He made up for this early lack of RBI on August 15th in a 10-3 shellacking of the Royals at Comerica. He had four RBI in this game, scoring Clete Thomas to open up the scoring for the Tigers in the bottom of the 1st. He followed that up with a two-run shot in the bottom of the fifth to chase Luke Hochevar off the mound as the Tigers took a 6-2 lead. Guillen just wouldn't let up on Royals pitching and drove in Granderson in the bottom of the sixth.

On August 24th when the Tigers visited the Angels in Los Angeles, they were up 3-0 heading to the top of the 6th when the bats roared to life for seven runs. Guillen hit a home run to deep left-center to plate Cabrera and Huff to finalize the Tigers' onslaught putting them up for a 10-0 lead. The Tigers wouldn't score again in the game after Justin Verlander blew up in the bottom of that inning, allowing four Angels runs before being chased by Erick Aybar and the Tigers' bullpen allowed an additional three runs before the game ended for a final of 10-7.

September/October

On September 10th, Guillen said he was no longer working on switch hitting because his shoulder wasn't feeling right when he tried to do it. Just over a week later Leyland said Guillen wouldn't be starting against left-handed pitching as his numbers against them batting from the left side were just .167/.286/.167 in only six at-bats this season.

Guillen slumped down the stretch for the Tigers, going just 16 for 72 in his 24 games during this span. His OBP had a slight uptick, and from September 20th to October 1st, he reached base in nine straight games, going .385/.550/.808. Unfortunately he couldn't keep this production up when the season came down to the wire and in the last four games of the season went a paltry .077 with just a single in 13 at-bats. His slugging fell off compared to August behind four doubles, two triples and just three home runs. He plated 12 runners in this span but only one came in the last four games of the season.

On September 23rd, he had four RBI in a single game for the second time this season, as the Tigers tagged the Indians at Jacobs Field for 11 runs and Guillen went 3 for 4. His first hit of the game did not result in an RBI, as he grounded the ball sharply to first but after a throwing error by Andrew Marte allowed Cabrera to score Guillen was safe at first. He did get the RBI for driving in Cabrera in his next at-bat when he took Justin Masterson yard to give the Tigers a 6-1 lead. Guillen continued the hit parade when he saw Mike Gosling in the top of the fifth for his third plate appearance of the night, drilling a 1-0 pitch to start the inning off to deep left-center. After hitting a double to score Thomas in the top of the sixth and chasing Gosling from the mound, Don Kelly took over for Guillen in left in the bottom half of the inning.

DEFENSE, VALUE AND THOUGHTS

Guillen played in 81 games this season, splitting time evenly between left field and the DH slot. In 41 games in left field, he only committed two errors and had a range factor just above the league average 2.18. However his UZR/150 was abysmal, placing 33rd of 47 major league left fielders in this category and 18th of 23 in the AL (min. 300 innings). Interesting note: if you look at the leaderboard on Fangraphs for left fielders you'll see a familiar name at the top of the UZR/150 chart -- former Tiger Josh Anderson, clocking in at 38.6. However his offensive value comes in close to an average big league left fielder, his .242/.339/.419 line for the season worth 1.2 runs above a replacement. Fangraphs pegs his fiscal value at just $500,000 for the season but this massive devaluation has more to do with missing 68 games.

If we look at Guillen's 2007 season -- the sort of season I expect from Guillen in 2010 -- we see that the Tigers paid slightly above his value. Digging furhter, if we look at Gullien's 2004-2008 numbers, we can see that he's hit .308/.377/.493 in his time in Detroit. At 33, Guillen most likely has a couple seasons left in him of good production. The question is if the Tigers want just average fielding in the left corner with the massive center field at Comerica Park and Granderson typically shading to right. In light of Guillen's media spotlight this week, I believe that he does deserve a chance in left field, albeit a very short one. From Leyland's response to Guillen, I believe he'll be kept on a short leash and if he starts the season off slumping the Tigers may take the opportunity to use Ryan Raburn in left field to see if his bat remains hot.

Please leave your thoughts in the comments! Up next: Bobby Seay. Unless someone else pipes up loudly, that is.