April 2, 2011; Cleveland, OH, USA; Cleveland Indians relief pitcher Rafael Perez (53) during the eighth inning against the Chicago White Sox at Progressive Field. The White Sox beat the Indians 8-3. Mandatory Credit: Jason Miller-USA TODAY Sports

But for every Joel Zumaya who comes and goes without getting back to The Show with the Twins, there’s a Jared Burton who breaks camp with the big league club and reinvents himself as a quality contributor. Actually, it’s probably more like one Burton for every five Zumayas.

The Twins have invited 26 non-roster players to spring training at this point, but that number could change in the next week or so if Terry Ryan picks up some scraps between now and the start of camp. Seven of those players signed on as minor league free agents from other organizations, and will be spending their first spring in a Twins uniform.

In theory, at least, these guys will have a chance to compete for a spot on the big-league club. The Twins, however, tend to prefer to promote players from within the organization. These guys will, with a couple of possible exceptions, be facing an uphill battle in Fort Meyers over the coming weeks.

So far, we’ve looked at Brandon Boggs, Tim Wood and Bryan Augenstein. Today, we’ll take a look at recently-signed Rafael Perez.

Perez, who was signed to a minor-league contract last week with an invitation to spring training and reported to camp Saturday, is a former dominant lefty setup man for Cleveland, averaging over a strikeout per inning in his first two-plus season with the Indians. In 2009, however, his numbers fell off the table and he had shoulder surgery in September of this year to hopefully right a lingering problem that caused his K/9 rate to plummet over the past two years to basically half of what it was at his peak. And that peak was no joke: analyst Peter Gammons reportedly referred to Perez as, “arguably the best left-handed reliever on the planet” in 2007, Perez’s first full season in the majors. The Indians non-tendered Perez this year two months after his September surgery.

Apparently, the Twins want to give Perez a shot at starting this spring. He was primarily a starter in the minors, and the majority of his experience as a reliever came with Cleveland once he was called up to The Show. The question then, is does this mean that the Twins are more concerned than they’re letting on that one or more of their projected starters won’t be ready for Opening Day, or is this simply a case of taking a flier on a guy who has had success in the past and trying him in a new role post-surgery to see if he can rejuvenate his career?

Perez has dominated the Twins over the course of his career, with a 1.38 ERA. However, as Aaron Gleeman astutely points out, Perez’s out pitch at the height of his career was his slider, but he’s used it with increasing frequency over the past few years to the point that batters expect to see it more often than not. The hope is that September’s surgery will allow Perez to return to the pitch mix that kept batters off balance and the base paths.

Did you know?

An LAPD officer also named Rafael Perez was caught stealing over $800,000 worth of cocaine from a police evidence locker in 1998. Besides being a former cop, he’s also a reputed member of the Bloods and a prime suspect in the murder of The Notorious BIG, and was on Death Row CEO Suge Knight’s payroll as a bodyguard at the time of his convicted and alleged crimes. If you’d like to read more about cocaine, Tim Raines and baseball, check out this past Sunday’s Twins Porn.

Chances of making the Twins out of spring training:

There are so many unknowns with Perez at this point, that the best I can give him is an Incomplete. How will his recovery from surgery progress? To what degree did his shoulder issues contribute to his dramatic drop in effectiveness? Will the Twins ultimately decide to use him as a starter or reliever? He’s a young 30, having signed out of the Dominican Republic at age 20, so does he have more life left in his arm than your average 30-year-old pitcher?

He could be a barometer of the health of the Twins ideal starting rotation, and the important thing to watch at this point in the spring with Perez may not be how he progresses post-surgery, but rather how the Twins decide to develop him moving towards April 1st: as a potential third lefty out of the bullpen, or as a stop-gap starter to cover for one of the penciled-in members of the rotation who might not be ready to go Opening Day.

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March 9, 2012; Tampa, FL, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Antoan Richardson (4) workout prior to the game against the New York Yankees at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Richardson, a native of the Bahamas,  is listed at 5’8″ and 165 lbs, and is known as a speedster on the base paths with defensive range in center field and a weak arm. Think Ben Revere, without the gaudy batting average.

Unlike Revere, however, Richardson draws a lot of walks and owns a career OBP of .398, more than 120 points higher than his batting average. He’s doesn’t mind taking a pitch to the ribs, has stolen bases at a career 84% mark, and has swiped as many as 66 bags in a season. He also had a grand total of nine extra base hits last year.

Richardson was drafted four times, twice by the Orioles, so teams have seen potential in him in the past. However, at age 29 and having spent just 27 games above AA, Richardson is most likely organizational depth, and his ceiling is probably that of a defensive fourth outfielder and pinch runner. On the right ball club, there is definitely value to be had in that type of player, but with a plethora of organizational outfield talent, chances are the 2013 Twins aren’t that ball club.

Bernier is a slick-glove, small-bat player who has thrived defensively as a middle infielder but has experience at all four infield positions. He’s spent the past six seasons at AAA, including two stints in the Yankees organization. At 33 years old in June, he has even less MLB experience than Richardson’s nine games with the Braves, but still has the potential to be a solid defensive utility player in the right situation.

While Bernier hits for neither average nor power, he does own an OBP of .337 in those six years of AAA, as well as a fielding percentage of .956 in nearly 500 chances at third base. With little in the way of middle infield depth and intended backup Jamey Carroll potentially spending another season as a starter in 2013, Bernier could find his way onto the roster at some point this season.

It’s not clear whether either player has been extended an invitation to spring training.

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Last year the Twins made some free agency moves in January by re-signing Jim Thome and Carl Pavano. They also claimed Dusty Hughes off waivers from Kansas City, but let’s forget about that one. It’s not likely that the team will have such a busy January this year. That’s partly because all of last year’s free agents have either re-signed (Matt Capps) or moved on to other teams (Joe Nathan, Michael Cuddyer, Jason Kubel). But money is also a factor. If Terry Ryan wasn’t pulling our legs with the infamous “$100 million” comment, the Twins have pretty close to zero dollars left for 2012 payroll. They might be able to add a player at $1 to $2 million without going much over the $100 million thresold. Finally, there is only one open slot on the 40 man roster. If Minnesota added more than one additional Major League player, that would require them to send a player through the waiver process and risk losing him. (more…)