Exit Interview: Audry Perez

The last couple of years, I spent the time immediately after the season examining each player that had made an appearance in St. Louis during the season.  This series was well received and so I’m bringing this idea back for the 2014 offseason.  More summaries than anything, I imagine the player coming into Mike Matheny‘s office and having a short conference before heading home for the winter.  Stats are just the ones accumulated for the Cardinals during the regular season.

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Player: Audry Perez

Season stats:  1 game, 1 PA, 1 BB, —/1.000/—  — OPS+

Hero/Goat: None

Overall grade: C

Positives: Drew a walk in his only plate appearance, meaning he didn’t make a major league out all year long….hit .292 with six home runs in 248 plate appearances at Memphis.

Negatives: The fact that he got only one plate appearance after Yadier Molina went down should tell you all you need to know.

Overview: The club talked a lot in 2013 about how Perez looked to be a good backup coming up, that he was a player that might take over for Tony Cruz behind Molina.  Yet, when Molina goes down and Cruz has to take over, the team fell all over themselves to find another backstop, first settling on George Kottaras before landing on A.J. Pierzynski.  When they can find not one but two free agents they’d rather have than the guy already in their system, that speaks volumes.

Outlook: Perez was outrighted off the 40-man roster in September, though he is still with the organization.  He’ll be 26 to start next season and likely will spend all of it down in Memphis, especially since there’s no obvious backlog of catchers there.

EDIT: John Nagel of Cardinals Farm pointed out that Perez is now a minor league free agent. The Cards could resign him, but it seems unlikely.

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