24-year-old outfielder Eury Perez was claimed off waivers by the New York Yankees on Monday. The Dominican native was designated for assignment by the Nationals last week after the club claimed 27-year-old Dominican outfielder Pedro Florimon off waivers from the Minnesota Twins.
Perez has very little Major League experience as he's only seen a combined 13 plate appearances in 2012 and 2013. He has spent most of his time in the Majors as a pinch-runner and/or a late-game defensive replacement in the outfield. He hit .311/.372/.406 with a homer, eleven RBI and 20 stolen bases in 238 plate appearances in Triple-A this season.
Perez is considered to be a plus defender and Baseball America has ranked Perez among the Nationals' top 30 prospects in each of the past five off-seasons. Recent scouting reports show that some scouts gave his speed a rare 80 grade on the 20-80 scouting scale.
Given the recent injuries to Yankees' outfielders Jacoby Ellsbury and Martin Prado, the addition of Perez should help the Yankees for the last week of the regular season.