Neifi the Terrible

So the Cubs signed Neifi Perez to a one-year contract.

With tomorrow being Sunday let us all take a moment to pray that Jim Hendry and Dusty Baker don't actually think that this 32 year-old with a career .301 OBP and .380 slugging percentage (despite playing six of his nine season in Colorado) should be allowed to compete for a starting job.

Despite his 6 for 6 debut with the Cubs and .371 average in 62 at bats he still only managed .255/.296/.336 last season, a shade under replacement level (-.2 runs) based on the VORP numbers from Baseball Prospectus. He also has the distinction of capturing two of the worst nine offensive seasons in baseball history with his normalized OPS (adjusted for park factor) values of 64 in 2002 and 71 in 1999.

At best Perez, with his more than adequate defense, could take the utility infield spot of Jose Macias whose .268/.292/.376 performance was a touch better (+1.9 VORP) than "Neifi the Terrible".