SB Nation - Fernando Perez

The Last Man Sitting

Erik Hahmann — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:15:31 -0000

One of the more interesting story lines of this offseason, to me at anyway, will be the competition for the last remaining bench spot*.

*This is barring any major trades or signings before opening day

The Rays came into 2009 with a fairly strong bench consisting of Ben Zobrist, Gabe Kapler/Gross, Willy Aybar, and Shawn Riggans. Although he was already getting semi-regular at bats, Ben Zobrist was thrust into the starting lineup when Aki Iwamura went down with a knee injury in late May. That injury forced the Rays to call up players like Reid Brignac and Joe Dillon to warm the now vacant bench spot. Shawn Riggans suffered his usual injury set back which allowed Michel Hernandez a roster spot until the Zaunbie Nation came to Tampa Bay. The bench was obviously stretched out more than the Rays would have liked last season but it did an admirable job. The options for 2010 will offer a slightly different cast of characters.

Fernando Perez:

-Perez has long been one of my favorite Ray players, but that’s been more for his talents off the field than on it. A useful reserve outfielder for most teams, Perez may be forced out of a roster spot with the Rays thanks to a likely Matt Joyce/Ben Zobrist platoon in right field. Perez would be better served playing every day in Triple A and working on the next great American novel instead of wasting away at the end of the Rays bench.

Reid Brignac:

-The probable shortstop of the future, Brignac does have an option left and would no doubt be better off playing full time at Durham than riding the pine in St. Pete. Unless the Rays trade Jason Bartlett I don't see Brignac beginning the year on the Rays bench.

Gabe Kapler:

-Kapler is an interesting candidate. He doesn't yet have a contract for 2010, but the Rays would be in need of a right handed outfield bat coming off the bench. Kapler earned $1m last season and did job very well, putting up an OPS of .931 against left handed pitching. If Kapler is willing to accept another contract of $1m, or maybe a little less, I think the Rays have to seriously consider bringing him back.

Willy Aybar:

Aybar will undoubtably be a member of the Rays' bench in 2010 as the primary backup at 3B/1B. Even though Aybar rated uncharacteristically poor at every defensive position he played in 2009 he isn't a liability with the glove and his bat more than holds its own. The addition of Sean Rodriguez will drastically cut into the amount of games Aybar sees at second base next season. His salary of $1.35m is very reasonable for the production he provides.

Sean Rodriguez:

The main piece in the Scott Kazmir trade, Rodriguez will likely be the platoon partner of Ben Zobrist at second base and is able to backup Jason Bartlett at shortstop. He'll strike out enough to get the local fans to boo him, but his versatility and power bat should be enough to assure himself of a bench spot in 2010.

Matt Joyce:

I see Matt Joyce being a part of what I'm calling the Ben Zobrist Platoon menage a trois. Joyce starts in right field against right handed pitchers while Zobrist starts at 2B. Against southpaws Joyce would sit in favor of the switch hitting Zobrist, while Rodriguez would play second base. Joyce spent most of 2009 in AAA and played well enough to earn a promotion, not to mention the fact that Gabe Gross and Gabe Kapler are not likely to return.

Catcher:

The plan for a starting catcher is still up in the air, so I'm even going to begin to speculate on who the backup will be, but obviously there will be one on the roster.

I'm not sure which direction the team will go, but I'm strongly in favor of the re-signing of Gabe Kapler. They could go with a four or five man bench next season depending on how they decide to structure the bullpen. If they choose a four man bench I think Rodriguez, Aybar, Kapler, and Catcher would be the best fit to begin the season. If they go five then I would lean toward Fernando Perez to fill the last spot, if only for his pinch running abilities. No matter who they choose or how they structure it, the Rays will once again have a cost effective and productive bench in 2010.

Speaking of the Strong and Adaptable

R.J. Anderson — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 14:42:34 -0000

by Chris O'Meara - AP

Mustache and Bubbles sounds like two parts of an epic biker gang.

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Falling out of the playoff race is the absolute worst thing for this website. I don't mean in terms of visits, clicks, and views either. The network worries about those things, I don't. Right now, there are three daily content choices, 1) write about a current trend or observation, 2) write about something that may happen in the off-season, 3) do not write at all. Usually I fall in between 1 and 2 and it's a fine line to walk. The off-season is a long, dark, lonely cave. Wasting all the matches now gives less hope for survival. Being such, I'll spark one today and tackle an underlining question about next year's team: who will the fourth outfielder be?

Gabe Kapler is not what you think he is. He looks like the epitome of the dumb jock. Bald head, huge muscles, expressionless face 99% of the time. Then you hear him talk, or read some of his quotes, or talk to people who talk to him, and he's not that guy. Unlike his play, he seems very in control of his thoughts and emotions. This is a bit surprising to say the least and I couldn't believe Jonah Keri when he first shared this experience until I witnessed it myself.

Sure, he encompasses gritty play and sometimes his ballerina act in the outfield gets tiresome, but I've grown to enjoy his play more often than not. Mostly because he kills left-handed pitching like he should. In 143 plate appearances against southpaws to date, Kapler has 35 hits (21 of which are of the extra base variety), 23 walks (only 15 strikeouts), and a line of .299/.406/.590. That is phenomenal and when you add that his defense isn't half bad either, you have a bargain for the million-plus the Rays paid him.

Now, Kapler has struggled in limited exposure against righties. A .115/.164/.115 is repulsive, still his BABIP against them is .167, a figure unlikely to sustain. A week ago he turned 34-years-old and I'm sure the line of suitors for him will be decent if he so chooses to continue playing. Or he could return.

The problem with this is that the Rays outfield is again stacked. It's funny how these things work out. Three years ago, the Rays had too many outfielders: Carl Crawford, Rocco Baldelli, Delmon Young, Elijah Dukes, Jonny Gomes - okay, "outfielder" - and the transitioning B.J. Upton. Last year people said they didn't have enough and they had to acquire Nathan Haynes and Gabe Gross during the season, plus sign Eric Hinske. Now, the Rays are right back to the point where it's overkill. Crawford and Upton remain, the rest are long gone, and Matt Joyce, Desmond Jennings, Gross, and Fernando Perez are presumably looking for roster spots on the 2010 team.

That doesn't leave a ton of room for a 34-year-old whose best utility is his ability to do what most of the baseball corner outfield population can do: hit lefties. You figure Joyce sticks, Jennings goes to Durham, Gross changes addresses, and that leaves Kapler/Perez fighting for the outfield bench spot. This battle, if it comes to be, drips of intrigue.

I'm not going to compare Kapler's intelligence to Perez' -- just as I'm unlikely to compare Perez' body fat percentage to Kapler's -- but I think I'm reasonable in stating that both would finish in an upper percentile if MLB were to hold a league-wide IQ testing ‘contest'. Given Perez' history in center field and his speed and range combination, he figures to be a plus defender, probably edging Kapler by a few runs over a full season. Perez is coming off a wrist injury and even prior to that there were murmurs the Rays didn't like him switch-hitting. In a little over 600 Triple-A plate appearances Perez has hit.287/.363/.391 and since 2005 has hit .299/.368/.470 against southpaws.

It's fair to say Kapler is the superior hitter and Perez the superior fielder. So where do you draw the line on either? As mentioned, Perez is younger - cheaper too - and not yet out of options. This means, he can be sent up and down next season as the Rays please without being offered to waivers.

Okay, so let's look at the numbers. In statistical terms, if we assume Kapler will OPS .950 (Ed note: Kapler's last three years actually have him with a .965 OPS against lefties, but I wanted to prove my point by contracting the difference into something more reasonable and round) and Perez .800 in 200 plate appearances, then Perez must be 12 runs better defensively to register as the better player. Let's say Perez is +8 on defense and the difference is four runs. That's a pretty marginal difference, all told, but since wins are worth about 4.84 million, and this is 0.4 of a win, we can see that Kapler is worth 1.94 million more than Perez - at least based on our projections which I'm not claiming are anywhere near accurate. That means our logical test on whether Kapler should be re-signed or not is pretty simple. It comes down to this equation:

X - 400,000 = 1.94 million

Where X is Kapler's proposed salary, 400,000 is Perez' salary, and 1.94 million is the predetermined value of the performance gap. The Rays could go cost efficient and just say to heck with Kapler, or they could keep him around and reap the quantitative and qualitative benefits.

I guess it really comes down to one thing: whether Sunburst Entertainment wants to pursue poetry and classical music or muscle shirts and hunk calendars.

Carlos Pena Closing in on Franchise Record

R.J. Anderson — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 03:37:41 -0000

by Duane Burleson - AP

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The most peculiar pitcher on the staff was on display tonight with Jeff Niemann pitching. On the other side, Justin Verlander, one of the three best pitchers in the American League this season. Nobody makes contact with him. Contrasting styles to say the least.
Niemann is a broken pitching machine. He throws almost all fastballs, then he'll glitch and throws a change-up or curveball, catching you completely off guard or out in front. Tonight, 74 fastballs with only four resulting in foolishness; meanwhile 6 of his 14 change-ups caused whiffs and one of his 15 curves did. I never held the perception of Niemann as a pitch-to-contact, low strikeout and walk pitcher, but here he is. People are going to look at the results and find this avatar brilliant.
Carlos Pena is one home run from 40. I would imagine he notches that this weekend. That would place him at 117 home runs in his Rays career. Believe it or not (or perhaps, can you believe this?) with 13 more home runs, Pena will become the franchise career leader in home runs. Aubrey Huff is the current leader and Fred McGriff is third. Carl Crawford and Jonny Gomes - really - round out the top five. Evan Longoria is seventh with 53 pops and Toby Hall is tenth with 44. I couldn't believe this. Not that Hall is top ten - okay, that too - but that he has 44 career homers.
J.P. Howell is going through a rough stretch, eh? Thankfully nobody is paying attention anymore, otherwise the cries for a veteran closer would be deafening. At this point Russ Springer closing could a) ensure his status as a Type-B b) allow J.P. to roam and c) give J.P. some less stressful occasions to get back into the groove.
Perhaps I'm alone on this, but I want to pretend Fernando Perez has a deep meaning behind his mustache. Intricate symbolism even. Unfortunately the holy strip did not prevent him from being victimized by Gerald Laird.
Laird is hideous looking and balding. I'm sure the ladies love him.
I have never seen a player launch a ball into the stands immediately after recording out three in the ninth inning. Correction: I had never seen it. Fernando Rodney allowed me such an opportunity tonight. It strikes me as odd that he chose this time imitate Dwayne Wade but he did.
13 months and one day ago Shawn Riggans took a Rodney fastball to the chest and survived. Rodney's antics and Riggans bullpen catching reminded me of this. Oddly I just remarked to Tommy about how brisk this season has felt. We are four weeks from ending this season. Time flies.

B.J. Upton To Be Placed On 15-Day DL

Tommy Rancel — Wed, 01 Apr 2009 16:32:00 -0000

No surprise here, but B.J. Upton will be added to the 15-Day DL along with Jason Isringhausen, Chad Bradford and Fernando Perez. Perez and Bradford could be moved to the 60-Day DL later if an addition 40-man roster spot is needed. The DL stints will be retroactive to March 27th. We've discussed the signficance of that date before. Upton will be eligible to return on April 11th with all eyes set on the April 13th home opener as his return. In the meantime, Upton is expected to stick around in Port Charlotte and work with the Class-A Stone Crabs.

Tampa Bay Rays Opening Day Centerfielder: Ben Zobrist?

Tommy Rancel — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 13:39:56 -0000

Following up on something I wrote about yesterday, the Rays are looking at Ben Zobrist as the potential opening day centerfielder. He could also see the lion's share of innings in center until B.J. Upton returns from hand/shoulder injuries. Zobrist started yesterday in center field and has logged more innings (28) at that position than any other this spring. He has played every position except pitcher and catcher so far. Zobrist, a switch hitter, would allow the Rays' "Gabe of the Day" right field platoon to continue as planned; Gross starting versus right handers and Kapler starting against lefties. Kapler is another option to start in centerfield in Upton's absence.

Another reason Zobrist is being looked at as the temporary centerfielder is roster flexibility. I mentioned this earlier this weekend, but the Rays really have two options here. First, they could keep Justin Ruggiano on the roster and have him be the primary backup in the outfield. Second, they could use Zobrist as the centerfielder and keep Adam Kennedy as a utility infielder along with Willy Aybar. Kennedy has played second base, third base and some outfield this spring. He played 10 games in the outfield and three games at first base for the St. Louis Cardinals last season. We all know Joe Maddon loves a flexible roster so this could be the way he goes.

While Maddon seems comfortable with Zobrist in center field, we just don't know how good or bad of a defender he will be out there. Last year, Benzo logged 113.1 innings in the outfield with most of those coming in left field (79.1). Zobrist looked to be about average in left with a UZR of 0.7 in limited action. He did play five games in center field last year including three starts. He had a -0.7 UZR in 27 innings in center, however, that is a very small sample size. There is a chance Zobrist has made some defensive strides in the outfield this spring, so we'll have to trust the opinions of coaches and scouts for now.

The effect of the Fernando Perez injury is really starting to show right now. None of this would even be necessary had Perez not suffered a dislocated wrist injury along with ligament damage. Perez is expected to miss 4-5 months, meaning a July or August return. However, Andrew Friedman acknowledged the injury could cost Perez the entire season, but it's too early for that type of speculation.

Photo By Dennis Adair

Fernando Perez Out At least Three Months

Tommy Rancel — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:30:15 -0000

Tests results on Fernando Perez's left arm revealed a dislocated wrist that will sideline the Rays outfielder for at least three months. Here are Joe Maddon's comments:

"It's unfortunate," Maddon said. "Obviously he's very disappointed, he’s really coming on as a young player so it's difficult. But it could have been worse, obviously, so three months we can live with that. And we’ll take it from there." -Heater

As for the opening day roster plans, Maddon also spoke on that

Maddon said Perez "probably would have played" in centerfield to open the season if CF B.J. Upton were not ready to return from offseason left shoulder surgery. "Now we've Got Gabe (Kapler) out there, going to get Ben Zobrist out there," Maddon said. "It just gives some other people opportunities out there in case something else were to happen. That’s the impact."

One would think that Justin Ruggiano would also be a candidate, but maybe this could open the door for a NRI such as Adam Kennedy.

Fernando Perez Injury Feared To Be Serious

Tommy Rancel — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 21:00:51 -0000

A bit of bad news to pass along. The wrist injury Fernando Perez suffered in today's game looks like it could be pretty serious.

From Rays Report

The Rays are giving only vague answers about the prognosis for Fernando Perez, but Andrew Friedman acknowledged “it’s ceretainly possible” the outfielder could be out for an extended period.
It is a left wrist injury, but the Rays want their doctors back in St. Pete to examine his test results before making a more specific statement about his condition.

Several players, however, have indicated the news is bad

The Rays will probably remain quiet until they are certain on a diagnosis, but the fact that Andrew Friedman is throwing around "certainly possible" about Perez being out for a long period of time isn't comforting.

Perez wasn't being looked at as a mainstay on the Rays roster in 2009, but his injury could hurt the depth chart a bit. It was looking like he would start the season with the big league club and fill in for B.J. Upton until he was deemed 100%. After that he would be the Rays "fifth outfieder," but just stashed away in Durham awating a call if an injury or something else should provide a spot for him. This means that Justin Ruggiano will most likely assume that role and has a very good chance to make the opening day roster for the Rays. Personally, I like Ruggiano and hope he can take this chance to help shed the "Quad-A" label, but I'm not liking the fact that it could come at Perez's expense.

Tampa Bay Rays Spring Playing Time Breakdown

Tommy Rancel — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:00:09 -0000

Here is a list of all the players who have appeared in the field during a game for the Rays this spring:

Player	Total Innings	By Position
Albernaz	1	C
Aybar	11	1B-8, 2B-3
Bartlett	12	SS
Beckham	9	SS
Brignac	23	SS-12, 2B 11
Burrell	5	RF
Crawford	10	LF
Ensberg	16	3B-10, 1B-6
Gross	17	RF
Hernandez	12	C
Jaso	10	C
Johnson	24	2B-13, 3B-7, CF-4
Kapler	10	CF-5, RF-5
Kennedy	18	2B
Longoria	18	3B
Navarro	13	C
Nowak	20	3B-6, 1B-14
Olmedo	24	SS-15, 3B-9
Perez	25	CF-20, LF-5
Richard	26	1B
Riggans	18	C
Ruggiano	30	RF-11, LF-1, CF-18
Sadler	25	CF-7, LF-13, RF-5
Weber	32	RF-18, LF-14
Zobrist	22	2B-8, SS-10, LF-4

Things to note:

Pat Burrell and Gabe Kapler have played the same amount of time in RF. Kapler has DH'd more than Burrell.

The Durham Bulls have been playing a lot. Chris Richard, Elliot Johnson and Jon Weber have logged a combined 82 innings. This doesn't even included several players like: Chris Nowak, Morgan Ensberg and Ray Olmedo who could be Durham Bound. Ensberg has also put in 16 hard innings at the teams DH.

Fernando Perez and Justin Ruggiano have been given plenty of innings to audition for the temporary centerfield job should B.J. Upton miss the first week of the season. Perez is hitting .182, while Ruggiano is hitting .429

Upton, Carlos Pena, Matt Joyce and Matt Spring have yet to appear in a game. Nevin Ashley has one at bat, but has not played in the field.

The Final Word On The JJ Putz Trade Saga

Jeff — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 23:22:55 -0000

John Paul Morosi gives us the lowdown on the M's/Tigers/Rays potential ménage à trois that preceded negotiations with the Mets and the Indians:

You may remember that the Tigers’ best chance to acquire Putz came during three-way conversations that included the Rays and Mariners.

Seattle officials wanted a centerfielder, and they did not believe that Detroit prospect Matt Joyce could play the position on an everyday basis. So, the centerfielder would have needed to come from Tampa Bay – and the Mariners wanted Perez.

So, as we guessed a few weeks ago, Fernando Perez was the target and, ultimately, the holdup, as the Mariners wanted a center fielder who wasn't available. Were it not for BJ Upton's shoulder injury, today we'd be talking about a different outfield.

Different by name, anyway, but not necessarily different by style - Perez, like Gutierrez, would've been a defense-first acquisition. It's hard to say much about his glovework since he only appeared in 23 games with Tampa Bay, but Perez is one of the fastest motherfuckers in the league, and that being the biggest factor in determining one's aptitude in the field, I have to imagine that he'd be a defensive asset as a full-time CF. Having watched him in September and the playoffs, it's difficult to dream up many fly balls he wouldn't be able to outrun.

However, while Perez looks like he's probably valuable with the glove, developmentally he seems to be a year or two behind Gutierrez at the plate despite being the same age, and with a game built around speed and little power, he comes with a lower ceiling. The 17 homers Gutierrez hit between AAA and the Majors in 2007 were more than twice as many as Perez has ever hit in a season, and Perez's 25% strikeout rate against better competition is too high for someone who doesn't draw a ton or walks or hit the ball over the fence. Perez has work to do, and while Gutierrez is no slugger, he's better-equipped to help us now, and in the long run stands a better chance of holding up as more than a fourth outfielder.

I like Fernando Perez, and I like that Zduriencik is fond of that kind of player profile, but all in all, I'm also rather fond of what we got. If Gutierrez is able to top out at even just a league-average batting line, I'm going to love him forever.

Community Projections: Perez/Kapler

Erik Hahmann — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 14:52:25 -0000

These are the last of the "regulars". As always, AVG/OBP/SLG. Give your answers as Perez first, then Kapler to make things easier.

Perez	BA	OBP	SLG
2008	0.250	0.348	0.433
Marcels	0.271	0.348	0.435

Kapler	BA	OBP	SLG
2008	0.301	0.340	0.498
Marcels	0.274	0.333	0.442