Herbert Perry

It was a bad contract extension for the Rangers in September, 2002 when it was signed, and it's even worse now. Texas had a lot of needs, and a corner infield bat wasn't one of them. Texas let Rafael Palmeiro walk, but Perry is not going to see significant at-bats anyhow, following the signing of Brad Fullmer. If Perry racks up ABs in 2004, it will be a bad sign for Texas. It'll be an indication of failure somewhere along the line.

True, he had a nice year (though noting spectacular for a corner infielder). But with Texas looking to shed payroll and one of the deepest collection of young hitters in baseball available at the 1B/3B/DH spot, you sign this guy to a two-year contract extension in September? How is that supposed to clear room for Hank Blalock, Mark Teixeira, and Kevin Mench (and to a lesser extent Mike Lamb)? Perry hasn't shown any added ability to mash lefties in his career either, which could have been useful to use with Blalock. If Texas is true in its intent to go with the kids, Perry's playing time will evaporate if Blalock performs. The Travis Hafner trade will buy Perry a few extra months until Teixeira completes his two-month tour of tearing through Triple-A. But if Carl Everett moves out of centerfield for 2003, there simply aren't enough at-bats to go around for LF/DH/corner infield between Blalock, Rafael Palmeiro, Mench, Lamb, Everett, and Perry, and eventually Teixeira.