Indians Release Cristian Guzman; Phillies Interested

Cristian Guzman was released by the Cleveland Indians this morning and is now drawing the interest of the Philadelphia Phillies, reports Paul Hoynes of The Plain Dealer.

The 34-year-old middle infielder, who did not play professional baseball in 2011, had signed a minor-league deal with Cleveland in late February with an invitation to big league camp.

Guzman could be a potential stop gap at second base for the Phillies, who have been in search of middle infield help for at least the last week with both Chase Utley and his back-up, Michael Martinez, expected to miss the start of the season.

In ten games this spring, Guzman hit .217/.280/.217 with two walks and no extra base hits.

A career .271 hitter, Guzman was always undone by his inability to draw walks, taking a base on balls in only 4.6% of his over 5,000 plate appearances with the Twins, Nationals and Rangers.

• Guzman released | Twitter @hoynsie:
  Cristian Guzman say #Indians have released him. Will rehab hamstring in Dominican. Heard #Phillies might be interested.