Neifi Perez

Perez had his best season since descending from Coors Field and still failed to reach base at a .300 clip. Still, his nine home runs, .274 batting average and reliability at shortstop convinced the Cubs to sign him to a two-year deal. He should be an expensive utility man, but manager Dusty Baker loves his vets and could very well start Perez if Ronny Cedeno shows even a hint of struggle.

Perez hit .371 in 62 AB with the Cubs in 2004, and the team rewarded him with another one-year deal. Would you rather bid on those 62 AB or consider the 4,128 he had before arriving in Chicago that show him to be a .269/.303/.380 hitter? That's about average for your all-glove, no-stick journeyman utility player. You make the call.

His defensive reputation is likely to get him the starting shortstop job for the Giants ahead of Cody Ransom, but Perez offers virtually no fantasy value. Rumors that he might end up back in Colorado are the only reason to consider him on draft day - unless "defensive reputation" is a category in your league.

With a .236 average and .564 OPS in 148 games for the Royals in 2002, Perez was arguably the worst everyday hitter in major league baseball last year. He was signed off the waiver wire by the Giants in the offseason as middle infield insurance, but we simply cannot believe that Brian Sabean would allow Felipe Alou to play Perez every day. Perez is a very capable defensive infielder, and he would provide value to a big-league club in a utility/late-inning-defense role. However, there's absolutely no reason to consider spending even a penny on him in your draft.