Ferrer was born in Santurce, Puerto Rico, and signed with the Los Angeles Dodgers at nineteen years old. After three seasons in their farm system, in which he batted.280 with nine home runs and 121runs batted in, he was taken by the Minnesota Twins in the rule 5 draft. Ferrer made the Twins out of Spring training, and immediately made an impact on his new club. In the season opener, he went two-for-five with two runs scored. The second came in the eleventh inning, when the speedy Ferrer scored from second base on a deep sacrifice fly to centerfield by Larry Hisle. He spent the first two months of the season as the Twins' starting shortstop, batting a respectable.281 and scoring twelve runs in the lead-off spot of the Twins' batting order, however, his inconsistent fielding led Twins managerFrank Quilici to give the starting shortstop job back to incumbent Danny Thompson. He was optioned to the triple ATacoma Twins in late May, but his glove showed no improvement, and he remained in the minors for the rest of the season. Ferrer again started the season in the majors in. He got most of his playing time early in the season backing upHall of FamerRod Carew at second, but the switch hitter was soon moved into a platoon with Thompson at short. It proved effective, as Ferrer batted.333 against right-handedpitchers. Regardless, he was optioned back to Tacoma at the start of June much to the dismay of Carew, who openly expressed his unhappiness with this decision. After the season, he was traded to the Philadelphia Phillies for catcherLarry Cox.
With All-Stars Larry Bowa and Dave Cash in the Phillies' middle infield, Ferrer was unable to crack the major league roster, and spent the season in triple A. Following Cash's departure via free agency, Ferrer went into Spring training battling Ted Sizemore for the job at second base. When Sizemore won the job, Ferrer was dealt to the New York Yankees for outfielderKerry Dineen. After one season with the triple A Syracuse Chiefs, he went cross-town to the New York Mets in exchange for third basemanRoy Staiger. When starting shortstop Tim Foli tore the outer ligament on his left knee early in the season, Ferrer saw his first major league action in nearly three years. Unfortunately for Ferrer, Mets manager Joe Torre opted to shift second basemanDoug Flynn to short, and added Bobby Valentine to his starting line-up at second rather than giving playing time to Ferrer. He appeared in 37 games for the Mets, mostly as a pinch runner or late inning defensive replacement. Once Foli returned from the disabled list, Ferrer was optioned back to triple A Tidewater. He returned to the club in late July, but his role didn't change much. His stint with the Mets in proved even less eventful; he appeared in 32 games and logged just nine plate appearances.
