Guillermo Quiroz
Guillermo Quiroz [gee-YARE-mo kee-ROZE] (born
November 29,
1981 in
Caracas, Venezuela) is a
catcher and right-handed batter who plays for the
Seattle Mariners.
Quiroz was signed by the
Toronto Blue Jays as a non-drafted
free agent in
1998, before his 17th birthday, with a lucrative $1.5 million
signing bonus. He was progressing through Toronto system as the team's number-one catching prospect. In addition,
Baseball America rated him as the Blue Jays' third best prospect in their
2004 pre-season rankings, and the 35th best prospect in all of baseball.
Defensively, Quiroz has good skills. In
2003 he threw out 45% of
base stealers, and was the starting catcher for the
World team in the 2003
All-Star Futures Game played at
Chicago's
U.S. Cellular Field.
Despite his low
average in the minors, Quiroz is a patient hitter who receives a significant number of
walks and can hit with decent power. But all he needs to do is stay healthy. He missed the end of the 2003 season with a
collapsed lung, and the broken hand he suffered in May 2004, hurt his chances of taking over as the Blue Jays' starting catcher in
2005.
In
2006, the Blue Jays signed catcher
Jason Phillips initially as the backup to
Gregg Zaun. They later signed
Bengie Molina to be their new starter. With three catchers ahead of Quiroz on the Blue Jays' depth chart, this suggested a vote of non-confidence by the Jays in Quiroz's ability to play in the majors. On
March 31, Quiroz was put on waivers by the Blue Jays, but was promptly picked up by the Seattle Mariners on the same day.
In a two-season career, Quiroz is a .205 hitter with 10
RBI and no home runs in 29 games.
*
Players from Venezuela in MLB*ESPN (profile and daily update) [
1]
*Batter's Box (interview) [
2]
*Encyclopedia of Baseball Catchers (article) [
3]
*Baseball Reference (statistics) [
4]
*
Minor League Splits and Situational Stats
