Carlos Guillen is a professional Major League Baseball playerhttp://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/team/player.jsp?player_id=136722 who was born in Maracay, Venezuela on September 30, 1975. During the off-season, he, his wife Amelia, sons Alfonso and Isaac, and daughter Camelia reside in Aragua, Venezuela.

Carlos is capable of playing both the Infield and Outfield, as well as serving as Designated hitter. He throws from the right side, but is a switch hitter and swings from both sides of the plate. He was initially signed by the Houston Astros as a non-drafted amateur free agent in 1992. From there he was traded to the Seattle Mariners along with Freddie Garcia and John Halama for Randy Johnson. He eventually wound up in Detroit as part of the Juan Gonzalez exchange between the Tigers and Mariners.

It has been noted that Guillen is a strong supporter of Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez, as is teammate Maglio Ordonez.

During his career, Carlos has become known as being injury prone. When healthy he can be counted on as big run producer and .300 hitter. Carlos made his Major League debut on September 6, 1998.

After the Tigers acquired Johnny Damon as a Free Agent, Carlos was notified that he would spend most of his time at Designated hitter, but would still get some playing time in Left Field. When Spring Training ended and the Tigers headed North, Guillen was slotted to bat 5th in the Detroit lineup behind Miguel Cabrera.

So far this season, Carlos has split his time between Designated Hitter and spelling Damon in left field. After 21 games in the young season he is batting.311 and has scored 8 runs. He has also chipped in with a homer and 8 RBIs. The Tigers as a team in the early going have Home Runs only from Guillen, Ordonez, Inge, Jackson and Cabrera.

Manager Jim Leyland will be looking for more from Guillen as the team gets into the season a little deeper. It is Guillen's job to protect Cabrera, who hits in front of him, by producing key RBIs. If he doesn't, then teams will pitch around Cabrera and severely impact the Tigers' run production.

2010 April 23 - Carlos Guillen was placed on the 15 day DL with a pulled Hamstring. He was replaced on the active roster by rookie Brennan Boesch.

2010 May 28 - Carlos played his first game since being taken off the DL. He was named the Tigers starter at 2nd base for the foreseeable future.

Carlos missed nearly three months of the season due to Right Shoulder inflammation. He appeared in only 81 games and was limited to 277 At Bats. His .242 batting average was his lowest since 1999 when he had only 19 plate appearances with the Seattle Mariners. He had 11 Home Runs and 41 RBIs to help the Tiger attack.

Spending most of his time in Left Field was a new experience for Carlos, and late in games manager Jim Leyland removed him often for defensive purposes, sometimes with disastrous results. It was debatable as to whether his replacement, usually Ryan Raburn was any better defensively. After the season Guillen confronted Leyland about his situation and was told he would be the everyday left fielder in 2010. Unfortunately that changed when the Tigers signed Johnny Damon.

On September 23rd in Cleveland, Guillen connected for Home Runs from both sides of the plate. That was the fourth time in his career, he had done so.

2008 Season

Carlos was selected to the American League All Star Team and had a double during the game. He played in only 113 games and missed the club's final 31 games of the season with lower back spasms. Guillen hit .286, with 10 home runs and 54 RBIs for the season. He also knocked out 29 doubles in 420 at bats.http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/components/team/player/bio_iframe.html?is_mug_shot=true&roster_cid=det&cid=det&player_id=136722

2007 Season

Guillen was named to the American League All Star Team and was selected as "Player of the Week" on 6/24/2007. He hit 21 Home Runs and drove in 102, while scoring 86. He also chipped in 36 doubles and 9 triples to go with 13 stolen bases. He finished with a .296 batting average.

2006 Season

During the season, Carlos was a key cog in the Tiger lineup as they won the American League Pennant, before losing the World Series in 5 games to the St. Louis Cardinals. Guillen hit .353 for the Tigers in the World Series. During the regular season he played a career high 153 games and tallied a .320 batting average. He also contributed 100 runs scored, 85 RBIs, 20 Stolen Bases and 41 Doubles to a potent Detroit attack.

2005 Season

Guillen appeared in only 23 games for the Tigers because of a left pulled hamstring. After returning from that he was sidelined again with a sore right knee. He finished the season with a .320 batting average in 334 plate appearances. He was limited to playing in 87 games.

2004 Season

The Tigers obtained Guillen in a trade with the Seattle Mariners on January 8 for Juan Gonzalez and Ramon Santiago.

Carlos earned American League All Star honors for the first time. He supplied a .318 batting average with 20 home runs and 97 RBIs to the Tiger attack.

2003 Season

During his last season in Seattle, Carlos hit a solid .276 and scored 63 runs in only 109 games.

1998 Season

On July 31, 1998 Guillen was traded by the Houston Astros along with John Halama and Freddy Garcia to the Seattle Mariners for Randy Johnson. He then made his Major League Debut with the Seattle Mariners on September 6th and finished the season with a .333 batting average in 10 games.

1992 Season

On September 19, 1992 Carlos was signed by the Houston Astros as an amateur free agent.