Hernan Perez clears waivers, outrighted to Triple-A San Antonio

In the days following Hernan Perez’s DFA, many around the Brewers were talking about him like his days with the organization were done.

Manager Craig Counsell, GM David Stearns and teammates were talking about him in the past tense the way you would about someone you weren’t expecting to see for quite some time. The assumption by just about everyone involved was that Perez, able to provide value in so many ways even when struggling with the bat, would be picked up by someone on waivers (after all, teams like the Chicago Cubs could have found a use for him).

Instead, the team announced today that Perez had cleared waivers and was being outrighted to Triple-A, presumably keeping him in the organization.

We say presumably because Perez had already been outrighted once before by the Brewers in 2015 and had a right to refuse assignment after a second outright. Reading between the lines, the lack of a mention of Perez becoming a free agent — like they did in their 2015 tweet about Perez’s first outright — would seem to indicate he’s sticking around.

Familiarity may play a role in that, as could the possibility of being back in Milwaukee later this year. There’s always the chance he’s added back to the 40-man roster and brought back up in September, or takes his old spot back sooner than that if Tyler Saladino’s struggles continue.

Either way, the Brewers appear to have successfully kept a piece of veteran depth around.

UPDATE:

Stearns confirmed to Tom Haudricourt that Perez accepted the assignment instead of choosing free agency with his second outright.