Wanted: P.R. man
No, not for us. For Jose Guillen’s trainer.
This story on ESPN details Guillen’s workout program during the offseason, and it’s all pretty generic. If you’ve read a story about a guy coming off injury working hard to get back in shape and prove himself again, you’ve read this one.
Except, there’s a throwaway line that I just can’t wrap my mind around.
The guy that drives him is the 54-year-old Presinal, known to Dominican players as Nao (sounds like Now). Guillen has worked with him the last seven offseasons. Presinal has been under contract in recent seasons to Juan Gonzalez and Bartolo Colon, but discussions are under way to have him join Guillen this season in Seattle.
Yes, folks, Jose Guillen is being trained by the man who had such wonderful success keeping Juan Gonzalez healthy and Bartolo Colon in shape. And he’s using that experience on his resume?
Really? You’ve been working with this guy?
I’m sure Presinal knows way more about conditioning than I do, but he has to have clients that are better recommendations for his services than Bartolo Colon and Juan Gonzalez, doesn’t he?
Classic
Check this out…
“In late 2001, Canadian Border Service agents picked up an unmarked bag of steroids that was en route to the Cleveland Indians team hotel to see who claimed it. The guy who got it was Angel (Nao) Presinal, a fitness trainer and then-aide to slugger Juan Gonzalez. The border folks questioned both Presinal and Gonzalez, who played a little game of Not My Bag, No, and the bag was confiscated. Major League Baseball, suspicious of Presinal, banned Presinal from MLB clubhouses; whenever he was around athletes afterwards, security people informed MLB officials.Presinal had remained a shady figure around baseball, until this March when he showed up as, of all things, strength and conditioning coach for the Dominican Republic’s World Baseball Classic team. (He was also at the All-Star game in Detroit last year and continues to train several players, including Bartolo Colon.) And now it has been nailed down, by an MLB official report, that he accepted a huge bag of steroids while flying back from a Cleveland Indians game with one of baseball’s top players at the time.”
And…
“In the Dominican Republic, they know Pedro Martinez by one name: the pitcher. They know Nao by one name too: the trainer.
He reels off a client list that reads like a Latin All-Star team— Martinez, David Ortiz, Adrian Beltre, Jose Guillen, Juan Gonzalez, Ruben Sierra, Francisco Cordero. If a Dominican national team in any sport wants him, he says, he’s there to help.”
““Nao†is the personal trainer for Angels ace Bartolo Colon and his list of clients includes Vladimir Guerrero, [David] Ortiz, Miguel Tejada, Pedro Feliz, Guillermo Mota and other Major League players.”
Well, that all means one thing:
Mike Morse, career resurgence. If he starts slugging .600, I think we’ll know why.
What’s Colon’s workout routine? A bike ride to Fatburger?
Still, I wouldn’t mind seeing Mike Morse slug .600.
Ignore the reference to Adrian Beltre. Nothing to see here. Keep moving along.
Mike Hargrove could be his PR Man. Hargrove is starting to remind me of Bill Clinton or George Bush the way he can put a nice spin on things. Last night I heard him on FSN saying he has never been more excited about a team than this years Mariners.
Was Grover’s statement about his excitement preceded by a stun belt wince?
What Grover meant was he was never more surprised to survive an offseason. He really is excited for this season, as it means he is somehow still employed.
4. Thanks a lot. Now I have to wash my keyboard and monitor 😀
I know this is off the topic, but [deleted, off the topic]
And I guess it’s true Jose Guillen has two sons, both with the first name of Jose.
I can understand Hargrove’s enthusiasm. I mean, would you be more excited about the 2007 Mariners, or an Indians team which only had Manny Ramirez, Jim Thome, Omar Vizquel, Albert Belle, Kenny Lofton, Carlos Baerga, and Eddie Murray? Yeah, I’d much rather manage this year’s Mariners team.
Oh, and Julio Franco, who was only 57 years old back then.
“Guillen has worked with him the last seven offseasons.”
That seems to have worked out well, hasn’t it?
It’s almost as if Fish wanted to point out how this guy might be a bad choice.
He is as much a stat geek as any of you guys:
He keeps working, doing whatever it takes to recreate the physical attributes of the ideal player:
5’8″
230 lbs
Blood alcohol content at a constant .05%
Voila, el Bambino Nuevo.
Hilarious to read. Wonder how old any of those guys were when he started working with them.
Awesome. I love how the highlight of the workout is basically the equivalent of the Lisa Simpson’s one time PE class assignment to TS (tethered swimming).
Are we going to have a contest to see when Guillen’s first blowout will be? Mhmmm Im saying by Late May when the Mariners are 10 games out of first.
17. That was supposed to be blowup.
18 – I understood blowout as relating to hamstring, ACL, etc. It still makes sense either way.
19. Haha I guess your right
18. keep a close watch on his elbow too.
Has anybody seen Felix? He has lost a lot of weight over the offseason and looks like a new man.
#10
He still has a long way to go to catch George Foreman…
Sure Bartolo Colon is over weight but he has averaged 198 IP and over 30 games started for the past 9 years, including last years abbreviated season. Based on that, I’d say his off season training regimen has been effective. If he is otherwise in great shape, and has the frame to support it, the spare tire doesn’t seem to affect his ability to pitch.
Now Felix last spring was a different story. Not only did he come to over weight, but more importantly he was out of shape, both strength and cardio wise.
That’s not a spare tire, Paul; it’s a moderately sized child, or perhaps a large dog, stuffed in a sleeping bag and buttoned up in his jersey.
That’s not a spare tire, guys, it’s Steve Finley.