Cubs Trade Neifi Perez to Tigers

August 20, 2006 by cubsnet

Jim Hendry has not had a good trade in a couple of seasons. He's now back in the game. Somehow, he convinced the Detroit Tigers to take Neifi Perez and his $2.5M 2007 contract, and the Cubs even received a player in return: 22-year-old minor league catcher Chris Robinson.

From opening day 2005 through yesterday's play, Dusty Baker has given Perez 855 plate appearances (and all too often in the second slot in the order). Perez has given Baker a .269/.289/.371 line in those plate appearances. He was rarely utilized as the late inning defensive replacement he is meant to be. And somehow, Hendry gave Perez $5M over two years after the 2005 season. I find it somewhat remarkable that Hendry was able to convince another team that Perez had enough value to trade for. The Detroit Tigers Weblog hopes that the Tigers see Perez as the backup infielder that he is.

Robinson was the Tigers' 2005 3rd round draft pick, but has not shown much with the stick in his two seasons of A ball (694 OPS last year; 690 this year). But it really doesn't matter.

I wonder if the Perez trade says something about Baker's future with the Cubs. With Perez signed through next year, and being one of Baker's favorite players, if Baker was going to return next year, I think Baker would have fought this trade. Maybe he did, and lost, because Hendry knows that Baker will be gone. Or maybe he didn't because Baker himself knows he will be gone.

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