The Pirates have inked right-hander Josh Lindblom and outfielder Eury Perez to minor league contracts with invites to Major League Spring Training, tweets MLB.com’s Adam Berry.
[Related: Pittsburgh Pirates Depth Chart]
The 29-year-old Lindblom was briefly a part of the Pirates organization in the 2014-15 offseason after Pittsburgh picked him up on waivers from the Athletics. However, the Bucs released Lindblom in order to allow him to pursue an opportunity in the Korea Baseball Organization, and Lindblom would go on to spend the next two seasons pitching for the KBO’s Lotte Giants. The 2015 campaign was a huge success for Lindblom, as he worked exclusively as a starter for the first time in his career and racked up a career-high 210 innings in the Giants rotation. That year also saw him record a 3.56 ERA — no small feat when considering the KBO’s hitter-friendly nature — with 7.7 K/9 against 2.2 BB/9. The 2016 season was more of a struggle, as Lindblom fought some control issues (3.8 BB/9) and saw his ERA jump to 5.27 while his innings total fell to 170 2/3. He’ll provide the Bucs with some depth in the ’pen and in the rotation in his return to the organization.
Perez, meanwhile, will presumably compete for a bench job in Spring Training and can report to Triple-A Indianapolis if he doesn’t make the team. The 26-year-old boasts blistering speed but has never hit enough to carve out a consistent role on a big league roster. His lengthiest (and most recent) MLB stint came in 2015 with the Braves, for whom he slashed .269/.331/.303 in 133 plate appearances over the life of 47 games. Perez comes with a very nice Triple-A track record — .298/.347/.393 with 111 steals in 336 games — and will vie for a fourth or fifth outfielder role. At present, Adam Frazier seems like the favorite to occupy that slot.
just sign nova. rotation needs arm with more than 2 years experience
Amen. Howzabout stepping up and “overpaying” for Nova. Most teams understand that every so often you have to show your players that you are willing to add someone who fills your greatest need. It would be nice if the Pirates did it once. Go ahead and throw everything you can at a wall and see if it sticks, but for something new, try paying Rodriguez, Happ, Nova, etc. market value. That’s baseball today.
I’ve never thought that Eury Perez has ever been given enough of a shot at the major league record. What brief chances that he has had in the majors have been decent (but not great) but he has done quite well in AAA. You could certainly do a lot worse for a 4th or 5th outfielder.
Josh is a good pickup. Nice job.
Both of these guys are pretty good as far as depth signings go. Pirates could certainly use some speed off of the bench, and if Perez plays a decent CF so much the better.
To make a deal, both sides have to sign the contract. The Bucs offered to overpay Hill but he chose to sign with the Athleticics.. Maybe the Pirates offered to overpay Nova already but he has not chose to sign. It takes 2 to tango people.
I remember when the Rangers traded Michael Young for Lindblom.I had no idea he went to Korea, I figured he just was toiling in the minors. I wish him luck