Vladimir Guerrero opted to be released from his minor league contract Monday afternoon after stating that he wanted to play in the Majors.
The 37-year old, native of the Dominican Republic, was posting good numbers in the minors. He split time in Toronto's Class A and AAA, hitting four homers and hiting well over .300.
Now that he is once again out on the market, Guerrero has shown he can still hit. Which team should offer a Major League contract?
For obvious reasons, only teams in the American League will be interested.
Cleveland Indians
With their designated hitter, Travis Hafner, injured, the Indians have space in their lineup to plug in Guerrero. Cleveland is only half a game out of first place and find themselves in the thick of the AL Central's race for first.
They are 11th in the league in RBI and sixth in the league in on-base percentage. Vladi could provide some extra pop in the lineup and the veteran could also mentor the young Indian hitters.
Kansas City Royals
The Royals, who are also in the central, have some of the best young hitters in the Majors. However, they are in the bottom tier when it comes to run production. They only have 44 homeruns, tying them for fourth worst in the Majors and they have the fifth worst total of RBI.
Oakland A's
Why not the Oakland A's? With Yoenis Cepedes' reoccuring hamstring injury, the A's can move Seth Smith to leftfield and having Vladi in the lineup will help balance Smith's struggles against left-handed pitching.
Billy Beane, who loves high OBP's should know that Guerrero got on base 45 percent of the time in 20 plate appearances in Class A. He did not walk, but had a combined .364 OBP in Class A and AAA, according to milb.com
Guerrero totaled 445 career Major League homers, 1,496 RBI all with a .318 batting average in 16 Major League seasons.
