Pittsburgh Pirates Sign Former Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox Pitcher Martín Pérez
The Pittsburgh Pirates and starting pitcher Martín Pérez have agreed to a contract, pending a physical, FanSided's Robert Murray reported Monday evening.
According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Jason Mackey, Pérez's deal is for one year and $8 million.
Pérez spent the past two seasons with the Texas Rangers, getting named an All-Star in 2022 and winning the World Series in 2023. The veteran left-hander will turn 33 years old at the start of the 2024 season.
Pérez made his MLB debut back in 2012 and finished sixth in AL Rookie of the Year voting in 2013. He remained a consistent member of the Rangers' rotation through 2018, starting 65 games between 2016 and 2017.
Following a one-year turn with the Minnesota Twins, Pérez landed with the Boston Red Sox in 2020. He went 10-13 with a 4.65 ERA, 1.449 WHIP, 7.3 strikeouts per nine innings and 1.6 WAR in two years with the Red Sox.
Pérez returned to Arlington ahead of the 2022 season, which turned out to be a breakout All-Star campaign for the lefty. The Rangers made Pérez a qualifying offer before letting him hit free agency, and he wound up playing this past year on a one-year, $19.7 million deal.
While Pérez didn't match the sub-3.00 ERA he posted in 2022, he still helped Texas weather some major injuries to star pitchers Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer. He finished his second stint as a Ranger with a 22-12 record and 3.54 ERA.
For his career, Pérez is 85-81 with a 4.44 ERA, 1.442 WHIP, 6.2 WHIP and 13.6 WAR.
Pérez is set to slide into a Pirates rotation that lacked depth in 2023. With 43-year-old Rich Hill getting shipped out of town at this past trade deadline and Johan Oviedo undergoing Tommy John surgery earlier this offseason, that need became even more glaring.
The Pirates have now added a second experienced starter to plug in behind ace Mitch Keller, having already traded for longtime Seattle Mariners lefty Marco Gonzales on Dec. 5. Luis Ortiz, Roansy Contreras and Bailey Falter are on the list of candidates who could fill out the back-end of Pittsburgh's rotation, barring any additional moves by the front office this winter.
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