Franklin Gutiérrez

Franklin Gutiérrez
Seattle Mariners – No. 21
Outfielder
Born: (1983-02-21) February 21, 1983 Caracas, Venezuela
Bats: Right	Throws: Right
MLB debut
August 31, 2005 for the Cleveland Indians
Career statistics (through 2013 season)
Batting average	.256
Home runs	67
Runs batted in	279
Stolen bases	77
Hits	654
Teams
Cleveland Indians (2005–2008) Seattle Mariners (2009–present)
Career highlights and awards
Gold Glove Award (2010) 2× Fielding Bible Award (2008-2009)

Franklin Rafael Gutiérrez (born February 21, 1983), nicknamed "Guti" & "Death To Flying Things", is a professional baseball outfielder for the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball. He bats and throws right-handed and is regarded as one of the game's best defensive outfielders.

Professional career

Cleveland Indians

On November 18, 2000, Gutiérrez was signed by the Los Angeles Dodgers as an amateur free agent.^[1] On April 3, 2004, Gutiérrez was traded by the Los Angeles Dodgers with a player to be named later (Andrew Brown) to the Cleveland Indians for Milton Bradley^[2] and was assigned to Double-A Akron. He entered the season ranked by Baseball America as the No. 3 prospect in the Los Angeles Dodgers organization and the top position prospect, possessing five-tool ability. Previously, Los Angeles refused to include Gutierrez in a deal over the winter that would have landed the Dodgers first baseman Richie Sexson.

Franklin Gutiérrez

In 2005, Gutiérrez posted a .261 batting average and 42 RBI for Akron, and hit .254 with seven RBI in 19 games with Triple-A Buffalo (then affiliated with the Indians). Between his two minor league stops, he stole 16 bases in 22 attempts. He was among the players that the Indians called up when major league rosters expanded August 31.

In 2006 after batting .278 in 90 games for Triple-A Buffalo, Gutiérrez played 43 games in the majors after being called up on June 16 and he stayed in the majors the rest of the season. In 2007, he once again began the season in Triple-A Buffalo, but after batting .341, he was called up for good on May 6.

On May 27, 2008, Gutiérrez hit his first grand slam.

Seattle Mariners

Gutierrez hits a home run on April 3, 2013.

On December 10, 2008, he was traded to the Seattle Mariners as part of a three-team trade.^[3] Mariners' General Manager Jack Zduriencik noted that the trade would not have gone through had Gutierrez not been included in the trade.

In 2008 he ranked 3rd among qualifying big league outfielders in UZR, an all-inclusive fielding statistic.^[4] Gutiérrez won a Fielding Bible Award as the top fielding right fielder in MLB.^[5] Dave Niehaus called Gutierrez "Death to Flying Things" after a diving catch,^[6] a nickname that previously belonged to Bob Ferguson.

In 2009, he had the most errors by a major league center fielder (7), mostly due to the immense number of batted balls that he gets to.^[7] He led all of Major League Baseball in UZR and UZR/150 and was 6th in the AL in wins above replacement. Gutiérrez won another Fielding Bible Award as the top fielding center fielder in MLB.^[8]

On January 6, 2010, it was reported that Gutiérrez and the Mariners were working on a 4-year contract extension for $20.5 million with a team option for a fifth year.^[9]

In 2010 he was awarded his first Golden Glove for outfielder. He finished the season with a 100.0% fielding average. He also came in second place for Defensive Player of the Year on MLB.com awards.

In 2013, Gutierrez spent 60 days on the disabled list due to hamstring injuries, and was activated on June 23 against the Oakland Athletics, but injured his hamstring again after six innings.^[10]

References

External links

• Career statistics and player information from MLB, or ESPN, or Baseball-Reference, or Fangraphs, or The Baseball Cube, or Baseball-Reference (Minors)
• Baseball Fever report at the Wayback Machine