This is not what I expected as the first Brewers splash in the offseason free-agent market! Apparently Milwaukee has signed 24-year-old Cuban defector Yohannis Perez, according to Baseball America:
Brewers assistant GM Gord Ash confirmed that Perez has agreed to terms with the organization, though he still has some red tape to get through. "We hope to have him in our winter program in Arizona and then in big league camp (in spring training)," Ash said.
Obviously, I can't wait to see this guy. However, I'm a little confused as to why the Brewers would choose to make an investment in a Betancourt-like shortstop. As you probably know, the Brewers have a couple of young shortstops, both of whom are better than Yuniesky Betancourt (though Betancourt may have an edge in the field, even over Hardy).
The bigger picture is fantastic, though: the Brewers are leaving no stone unturned in the search for talent, first signing Rolando Pascual for big bucks, now landing a Cuban defector.