The Twins are in agreement with veteran utility player Hernán Pérez on a minor league contract, reports Daniel Álvarez-Montes of El ExtraBase (Twitter link). The GSI client will join the organization after the World Baseball Classic wraps up, as he’s currently representing Venezuela at that event.
Pérez, 32 later this month, has played parts of ten seasons at the big league level. That included four consecutive years of 100+ games between 2015-18. Pérez never made a huge impact at the plate, but he stole 34 bases for the 2016 Brewers and twice has reached the double-digit home run mark. He’d struggled over his past three seasons at the highest level, however, ultimately bouncing to the Cubs and Nationals for brief looks.
Midway through the 2021 campaign, Pérez made the jump to South Korea. He played with the Hanwha Eagles for the stretch run before returning to the United States last year. Signed to a non-roster deal by the Braves in May, he’d spent the rest of the campaign with their top affiliate in Gwinnett. The right-handed hitter posted a .269/.318/.406 line with nine homers and 20 steals through 86 contests with the Stripers.
Pérez has a career .250/.280/.382 slash in over 1800 plate appearances against big league arms. Consistently low walk rates have tamped down his on-base percentage, though he generally puts the ball in play at an average rate and has a little bit of power. He’s swiped 69 bases in 85 career attempts (a quality 81.2% success rate). Pérez also brings plenty of defensive flexibility, having logged 100+ innings at each of second base, shortstop, third base and all three outfield spots. Public defensive metrics have graded him fairly well everywhere except shortstop and center field, with the keystone and hot corner his two most common positions.
The Twins have Jorge Polanco, Carlos Correa and José Miranda lined up at the non-first base infield positions. Polanco has been slowed a bit in Spring Training but is expected to be ready for Opening Day. Presumptive utility option Nick Gordon suffered a high ankle sprain earlier in the spring, and while the club hasn’t ruled him out for the start of the season, his ramp-up has been thrown off to some extent. Donovan Solano offers a right-handed hitting option throughout the infield off the bench, but the club was a little light on experienced infielders for the upper minors. Pérez will add some insurance in that regard and figures to start the year with Triple-A St. Paul.
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