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© St. Petersburg Times, published April 27, 2002
MIAMI -- He is all smiles now.
Curt Schilling, Randy Johnson and Luis Gonzalez are but a few of the Diamondbacks Jose Guillen can call teammates.
"It's refreshing right here, yeah," the former Rays outfielder said before Friday's game against the Marlins at Pro Player Stadium. "This is new life."
Arizona signed Guillen, who played in 193 games for Tampa Bay from 1999-2001, to a one-year deal worth $500,000 in December. He had five starts and was batting .227 through Thursday for the world champions.
"When you have a chance to get him, you take it," Arizona GM Joe Garagiola said. "He has the chance to be a real impact player."
The Rays released Guillen in November after a 2001 season in which he appeared in 41 games and hit .274, spending most of his time at Triple-A Durham because of knee troubles.
"I was happy, to tell you the truth," he said. "I would not want to be there in that situation again."
Acquired in a trade with the Pirates in 1999, Guillen's most productive season with the Rays was 2000 when he played in 105 games and batted .253 with 10 homers.
"I was expecting them to let me play," Guillen said. "That never happened. I was confident I was going to be the rightfielder for lots of years there.
"I just feel I was not treated fairly."