Marlins release Rowand

Jupiter, FL – The Miami Marlins have released outfielder Aaron Rowand, who had signed a minor league deal with a spring training invite in January.

Rowand struggled at the plate this spring, batting just .128 with six hits in 47 at-bats and three runs batted in.

The 34-year-old veteran spent the past four seasons with the Giants, winning a World Series title in 2010, and was released last September after appearing in 108 games. He batted a mere .233 with four homers and 21 runs batted in last season.

This spring he was given a chance under a familiar face in new Marlins manager Ozzie Guillen. Rowand played the first five years of his big league career with the White Sox and won a World Series title in 2005 with Guillen as his skipper in Chicago.

Rowand also played two years in Philadelphia and has a career batting average of .273 with 136 homers and 536 runs batted in. He was a Gold Glove center fielder for the Phillies in 2007 and earned his lone All-Star Game selection that summer.

Miami, on Thursday, also optioned outfielder Bryan Peterson to Triple-A New Orleans and assigned infielder Nick Green and pitcher J.D. Martin to minor league camp.