GARY, Ind. — Power-hitting veteran Cristian Guerrero, who has hit 27 home runs in the last two seasons, will return to the Gary SouthShore RailCats for a third summer, today agreeing to terms on a contract for the 2010 season.  The RailCats also made a trade, sending pitchers Derell McCall and Tyler Meigs to the Atlantic League’s York Revolution in exchange for cash considerations.

Guerrero, 29, has produced unprecedented power numbers at pitcher-friendly U. S. Steel Yard in his two seasons as a RailCat, hitting a franchise-record 16 home runs in 2008 and cracking 11 more in an injury-shortened 2009 season.  In just two years, Guerrero’s 27 home runs rank third in team history, 12 behind Tanner Townsend who hit 39 longballs over four seasons.  The all-time RailCats leader in slugging percentage (.478), Guerrero has also amassed 112 RBI (fifth all-time) and 54 extra-base hits in only 143 games.

The cousin of Major League superstar Vladimir, Guerrero broke the RailCats longest-standing team record in his first season with the ‘Cats, hitting his 16th home run of the 2008 season August 27 at U. S. Steel Yard against the Schaumburg Flyers, besting Jermaine Swinton’s team record of 15 set in 2002.  Beyond the home run total, Guerrero had a terrific 2008 overall, batting .312, adding 15 doubles and three triples to his 16 home runs, and racking up a career-high 63 RBI.  Guerrero also stole 15 bases in 2008, slugged .516 and banged out 105 hits in 85 regular season games.  In the 2008 postseason, Guerrero was just as good, hitting .345 and blasting a pair of home runs in the RailCats Northern League Championship Series Game One win over the Kansas City T-Bones.

Last year, Guerrero missed the first 30 games of the season and slowly regained his stroke as the year wore on.  Guerrero went just 5-for-38 in the month of June, but rebounded to hit .228 in July and .265 in August, when Guerrero hit seven of his 11 home runs and piled up 27 RBI in 26 games.  A native of Bani, Dominican Republic, Guerrero was at his best in 2009 with runners on base, batting .351 with runners in scoring position and going an impressive 17-for-35 with runners in scoring position and two outs.

In his 12-year professional career, Guerrero has already reached a number of milestones, playing in his 1,000th game and collecting home run 100 and RBI 500 during the 2008 season.  Last year, Guerrero notched his 1,000th career hit and enters the 2010 season with a .269 career average and prodigious .432 slugging percentage.

Guerrero began his career at age 17, playing with the Milwaukee Brewers affiliate in the Dominican Summer League in 1998.  Guerrero came stateside in 1999 and earned Pioneer League All-Star accolades in each of his first two seasons, hitting  over .300 each year, including a .341, 12-homer, 54 RBI season in 66 games in 2000 with the Ogden Raptors.  Guerrero reached Double-A in 2002 as a 21-year-old and was named one of the Brewers top 10 prospects by Baseball America for three consecutive seasons.  Guerrero was signed by the Seattle Mariners in 2003 and went on to spent time with the Los Angeles Angels and Washington National organizations before joining the independent ranks with the Atlantic League’s Camden Riversharks in 2007.

McCall, 28, was signed by the RailCats in late July 2009 and pitched extremely well down the stretch out of the rotation, going a perfect 6-0 in eight starts with a 2.54 ERA.  Meigs, 27, was acquired by the RailCats earlier this offseason in a trade with the Sioux City Explorers.

Guerrero becomes the 16th RailCats player and fourth outfielder to sign a contract for the upcoming season, joining outfielders Caleb Curry, Adam Klein and Mike Massaro; infielders Jeff Beachum, Chris Carrara, Louis Ott, Jay Pecci and Mike Rohde; catcher Matt Lenski; and pitchers Aaron Cook, Willie Glen, Zach McClellan, Andy Paulun, J.J. Potrikus and Andy Shipman.  The RailCats expect to have at least 28 players in camp when the team opens Spring Training, Thursday, May 6 at U. S. Steel Yard.

The RailCats will kick off the 2010 season two weeks later at The Steel Yard, taking on the Kansas City T-Bones, Thursday, May 20 at 7 p.m.  Season tickets, group outings, mini-plans and flex packages are on sale now by calling the RailCats offices at 219.882.2255.