I mentioned yesterday that OF Jason Perry had been signed as a minor league free agent and assigned to the Montgomery Biscuits. The Biscuits were basically down to three outfielders (Rashad Eldridge, J.T. Hall, and Desmond Jennings) after John Matulia went on the disabled list, so the signing made sense. Today I wanted to give you a brief background on Perry.Jason Kyle Perry was born August 18, 1980, which makes this year his age 28 season. He was originally drafted by the Toronto Blue Jays in the sixth round of the 2002 draft out of Georgia Tech. After quickly signing on June 22nd he first played for the Medicine Hat Blue Jays in the Pioneer League (R+) and was promoted to the Dunedin Blue Jays in the Florida State League (A+). Overall for the 2002 season he hit .384/.472/.689 with 11 HR's in 151 AB's.
He began 2003 back with Dunedin. On June 23, 2003, the was sent by the Blue Jays to the Oakland Athletics as the player to be named later to complete the January 27, 2003, trade for outfielder John-Ford Griffin. Oakland sent him to the Modesto A's in the California League (A+). Overall for the 2003 season he hit .305/.378/.425 with 5 HR's in 325 AB's.
Perry began 2004 back at Modesto and was promoted by Oakland to the Midland RockHounds of the Texas League (AA). Overall for the 2004 season he hit .310/.369/.613 with 25 HR's in 406 AB's.
He spent all of 2005 in Midland hitting .257/.342/.476 with 22 HR's in 435 AB's. He was named by the Texas League to both the Mid-Season All-Star team and the Post-Season All-Star team.
In 2006 Perry began back at Midland and was promoted to the Sacramento River Cats of the Pacific Coast League (AAA). Overall for the 2006 season he hit .289/.352/.447 with 12 HR's in 425 AB's.
He began 2007 back at Midland, was promoted again to Sacramento, and then was traded by Oakland to the Detroit Tigers for infielder Jack Hannahan on August 14, 2007. Detroit assigned him to the Toledo Mud Hens of the International League (AAA). Overall for 2007 he hit .265/.355/.506 with 25 HR's in 411 AB's.
On March 25, 2008, he was released by the Detroit Tigers. He signed with the Atlanta Braves as a free agent on April 10, 2008. The Braves assigned him to the Mississippi Braves in the Southern League (AA) and then promoted him to the Richmond Braves in the International League (AAA). He was called up to the big leagues for 4 games in early July by Atlanta. Overall in 2008 in the minors he hit .271/.376/.534 with 23 HR's in 365 AB's. For the Atlanta Braves he hit .118/.118/.235 with 2 hits (single, triple) and an RBI in 17 AB's.
The last couple of years he has primarily played right field but also has played some in left field. Although he's 28 now and not really a prospect, expect a corner outfielder with with a nice on base percentage and some pop in the bat. It's a good signing for the Biscuits until Matulia returns from the disabled list. At that point, it will be interesting to see if the Rays let him go or make another roster move to keep him in the organization. In his first game for Montgomery earlier today he went 2-3 (single, double) with a walk and an RBI.
Given what appear to be pretty solid numbers throughout his minor league career, what is the knock against him? He seems to have been considered easily expendable by various teams despite what seems like good performance at the higher levels. Is it that by the time he reached AA he was deemed too old, and at that point his performances there and in AAA were a bit erratic?
ReplyDeleteI know nothing more about him than what I wrote. Your explanation sounds like what I would have guessed. At some point his age-to-level made him become minor league filler. Some real power there a few years, but as you said, erratic.
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