Who is Carlos Gutierrez?

I’m damned if I could have answered that question a few minutes ago,
but I can answer it now. Carlos Gutierrez is the latest signing of the
Oakland A’s, a free agent pick-up who isn’t waiting for the draft and
will be joining the Vancouver Canadians when the NWL season starts in June.

Gutierrez is an outfielder - a two-time CIAA player of the year, at that - and according to College Sports TV, he’s got quite the pedigree:

A native of the Bronx, NY and two-time CIAA Player of the Year
(2005, 2006), he recently concluded his career as the all-time [school]
leader in runs scored, batting average, career doubles, career triples
and career home runs. This past season was a remarkable one for him as
he led NCAA Division II in batting average and slugging percentage. His
2006 home run total of 15 ranked second in the nation in addition to
setting a new school record for long balls in a season. He earn
back-to-back Player of the Year honors after dominating the CIAA ranks
finishing first in runs scored, hits, RBI, home runs and total bases.
He also finished 2006 with a .548 batting average, a single season
record for the Viking baseball record books.

Not too foul. Added to that, he was signed by Oakland scout Neil Avent after seeing him play just once.

"He has the ability and a good track record which is why we wanted
to sign him. With the kind of numbers he has put up, he is definitely
the type of player that is deserving of an opportunity. We are happy
that he will not be around for another team to draft in June."

So there you have it. The draft hasn’t yet commenced, but Oakland got first pick.

In other news, Scout.com
has a good piece up about Dangerous Bradley Davis, wherehe says the
Oakland pitching coaches have helped him turn his change-up into an
out-pitch. That makes four out-pitches the guy had right now…

Finally, Canadians Club President Dan Kilgras was interviewed in the Vancouver Sun
today, explaining that the Canadians won’t be seeing Oakland’s high
round draft picks this year. Which sucks, but not as much as you might
think. Truth be told, when the bonus babies appear halfway through the
season, the team has generally found its groove, and the new players
tend to mean a period of readjustment as the lineup gets juggled and
personalities mesh. So okay, we won’t see this year’s Travis Buck, but
maybe that’ll give more chances to this year’s Jeff Bieker.

Oh, and I’d tell you more about the article, but Canwest Global, in one
of their more moronic business decisions, doesn’t let you read more
than the first few sentences online unless you subscribe to the
physical newspaper.
Another
Gutierrez article, this one about his naming to the 2006 Carolina
All-State College division baseball team, can be found here.
What’s most notable about it is the picture featured, with Gutierrez
and his new A’s cap… It’s always nice to see another kid with one of
those.

Note: Thanks to HawkerRob, you can read the full Sun article here. Interesting note at the bottom of the piece announces that the Vancouver Canadians open training camp is set for June 11 or 12. Can’t wait.

SUBSEQUENT UPDATE: Gutierrez never made it to Vancouver, instead spending his first pro season in Arizona and never getting traction enough to earn a promotion. At his age, that’s not good news…