Jon Paul Morosi reports that the Tigers reached agreement with Ramon Santiago on a one-year deal. The deal is for $500,000, or about $120,000 more than the league minimum. The Tigers probably could have signed him as a minor league free agent, but this is a low cost move that rewards Santiago for his contributions last year.
Santiago is quite good as a defensive replacement/pinch runner/designated bunter type of player. The thing is, the Tigers have 3 utility infielders. If this means Neifi Perez won’t be back I’m thrilled. Although with Perez being owed $2.5 million it will be nearly impossible to trade him so him going might mean an outright release. If this means there is no room for Omar Infante then I’ll be disappointed. Infante has the most talent offensively of the group and is competent defensively. At 24 years old he’s the youngest of the trio as well.
Not a bad sign. I think it means worse things for Perez than it would for Omar. I, as you, would hate to see Omar pushed out, though I would be surprised to see that.
If we outright release Perez, we will still owe him the $2.5million. We probably paid about $500k last year. $3million for this guy…I’m still shaking my head.
I’m have a distinct feeling that Perez will be back next year because Leyland is half-crazy. I can’t imagine Dumbrowski views him as being a valuable piece of the puzzle, but Leyland seems to get his way with these type of things.
Maybe Baltimore will want Neifi. Or the Cubs will take him back. After all they need some veteran leadership if they are going to make a run for it. They could give us Scott Moore! Toronto signed Royce Clayton so they are probably out. If the Tigers can just get somebody to take on the salary (or part of the salary) they should dump him. Santiago is a vastly superior player at this point even though he can’t hit a lick. Infante still has a chance to be a regular 2B. They would be crazy to let him go for nothing.
We need Dusty Baker to get a job somewhere, he loves Neifi more than Leyland!
Tigers get a lot of offers for Infante, I bet. Likely, at this point, if he’s still a Tiger, he’ll remain a Tiger. I’m still scratching my head about the Perez trade. You give up a decent catching prospect, and take on a 3 million dollar contract. All for an old middle infielder with eroding tools. I guess you have to make a bad one now and then. This Santiago signing is more evidence that Guillen will remain the back up firstbasemen, and Shelton is destined for Toledo.
Is there anyway Infante could go back to the minors? Or is he out of options?
Pete,
You run a business in CA dont you, could you use a little over paid help. The thought of Nefi on this team in 07 is harsh on my brain. How about the Lions they arent really trying to win the supper bowl anyway.
Hope everyone is well, I miss the nightly game banter.
Steve
For a real good time, try typing in “neifi perez worst player baseball history” into google, and hit “I’m feeling lucky.” I’ll save you the time, this article comes up:http://www.hardballtimes.com/main/article/the-real-chase/
James — do you know if he got enough playing time to make it to the top of that list?
Billfer must be taking the winter off. Huge story today:
(wait for it)
The decided not to re-sign Percival (or Stairs).
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061201/NEWS99/61201037