Tigers trade for 2B Neifi Perez from Cubs
posted in roster moves |Just announced on the Tigers FSN broadcast, the Tigers traded for Cubs second baseman Neifi Perez. They sent catcher Chris Robinson from the minors.
The 33-year-old journeyman utilityman is a former gold glover who is hitting .254 / .266 / .343. Not exactly “savior” material. He fields pretty well but doesn’t really seem to bring much better bat than Infante. I have to imagine Ramon Santiago heads back down but FSN didn’t say. He can play 2B, SS and 3B, but has spent most of his career at short. He is apparently owed $2.5 M in 2007. Sounds like a lot of money for a guy who won’t be in the lineup regularly next year.
MORE: Looking over his stuff at Baseball Prospectus, he’s a contact hitter but mostly useful for his defense. Kinda Placido Polanco Lite. But his VORP is -7.4, making his worse than a replacement player on the whole. So he must be filling the role.
The 2005 report they wrote was:
It’s not that Neifi Perez is completely useless. He does have a slick glove, and there are times and places that he makes for an acceptable quick fix. The trouble is that sometimes he does this. He hits .371 in a handful of at bats, and the pitchers and announcers drool over his defense, and a team is compelled to re-sign him.
Only a few days ago, Bleed Cubby Blue wondered why Neifi Perez plays much for the the Cubs. (Hat-tip Baseball Musings)
Neifi! isn’t a bad player. He’s just not a very GOOD player; he has his uses, and bench players have to start once in a while.
And Mike of the Daily Fungo agrees:
Two words: Role. Player.
Not really ringing endorsements, hey?
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