The reigning French champion Rouen Huskies has a new manager. Keino Perez, longtime pitcher for the club from Venezuela, is succeeding Robin Roy at the helm. The 32-year-old Perez played professionally for the Kansas City Royals and Cleveland Indians organizations before coming to Europe. He joined Almere in the Netherlands for the 2003 and 2004 seasons. One year later he debuted for the Huskies.
Rouen additionally announced the signing of the Australian infielder Mathew Smith. The 20-year-old is coming from the Adelaide Bite of the Australian Baseball League. Playing second base he batted .208/.300/.338 with three homeruns, a double, six runs and 12 RBI in 30 games for the Bite this year. He also played for Adelaide in the ABL season 2010/2011 and was a member of the Australian 16U and 18U National Teams. He was named Rookie of the Year at the Claxton Shield 2009/2010.