After Ryan Perry agreed to terms with the Detroit Tigers on a contract, he told the Tuscan Citizen that the Tigers said they'd like to call him up to the bigs when rosters expand in September.
"They basically have said they would like me to be in the big leagues by the end of the summer once the rosters are expanded (Sept. 1)," Perry said in a phone interview. "I hope to get that nice little phone call."
Not so fast, my friend? While formally announcing the contract agreement today, Dave Dombrowski said he expected Perry to do most of his work in the minors this year.
"The track for me is the progression of Ryan and where he's at," Dombrowski said of the 21st overall pick in last month's draft. "There's no urgency to rush Ryan. It's going to take some time to get his arm back in shape to get ready to pitch again."
Now maybe this is the baseball equivalent of telling someone to take a cold shower. Easy, big guy. Perhaps Dombrowski is also applying a bit of psychology here. Will Perry work as hard - wherever he's eventually assigned - if he knows that he'll get the call up to Detroit in September? Possibly not. So the Tigers are probably dangling a carrot. And if Perry shows he has the stuff to pitch in the majors by the last month of the season, he'll get to hang with the big leaguers.
Dombrowski also said that the Tigers would like to keep Perry pitching as a reliever, though acknowledged that he "has the ability to start," and could work him in that role during the fall league.