July 28, 2039
It's amazing how fluid things can be in the Brewster Baseball Association. Take Claudio Perez, for example. At the end of the 2034 season he was looked upon as one of the Las Vegas Hustlers' top prospects and the eventual successor to Hank Brewer behind the plate. Forced to expose him to the expansion draft, it didn't take long before the Boise Spuds snagged him as their own catcher of the future (8th overall pick).
Fast forward to 2039. Despite having two solid seasons as the Spuds' starting catcher in 2037-38, Perez had fallen out of favor under the new GM, Joe Lederer. Meanwhile, the Hustlers catching situation was looking dire with Antonio Robles not hitting at all and Marcus Forryan not adding a lot to the situation either. With a glut of corner outfielders, Vegas was looking to move one of them and perhaps fill a weakness in the process. The Hustlers and Spuds were able to come to terms on a trade that would send Perez and lefty Akihisa Oka to Las Vegas in exchange for LF Eliseu Satino, 3B prospect Julian Fernandez, and faded RHP prospect Sandro Plumey.
So Perez has come full circle. Since taking over as the Hustlers' everyday catcher, he's hitting with more power than ever before in his big league career (13 HR, .522 SLG in 186 at-bats), and that's not even the biggest impact he's made.
Always regarded as a fine defensive catcher (he won the 2037 FL Zimmer Award), Perez has made a huge impact on the Hustlers pitching staff. With Perez behind the dish, Vegas pitchers have posted a 3.30 ERA, and it's translating into wins. Since July 15th, the Hustlers are 11-1, and Perez has to be given considerable credit.
"Claudio isn't a flashy player, he just gets the job done," said Hustlers manager Edward Allen. "No one works harder than him and while he's not a big vocal leader his handling of the staff has been outstanding. So glad we got him back in here."
