Tom H checks in with a really nice effort about Cuban defector Yohannis Perez. Perez has made some nice plays in big-league camp, and seems like he could take over as a utility infielder in 2008.  I don't have a very good read on his hitting skills, but I guess that's what this season is for.

What amazes me more than anything else is what these guys go through to defect.  Perez had to try twice, after failing the first time:

There are a lot of politics that cloud the issue, of course, but that doesn't take anything away from the guts it requires to escape your country that way.

The whole thing is worth reading.  I hope that, by this time next year, Perez is putting the Brewers in a tough spot, forcing the brass to choose between him and Hardy.  It's way too early to work out all of the implications of that, but of all the guys in the minor league system who aren't named Gallardo, I'll be rooting for Perez.