The Pirates have claimed catcher Michael Pérez off waivers from the Rays, reports Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times (via Twitter). Fellow catcher Kevan Smith and right-handers Andrew Kittredge and Chaz Roe each cleared waivers and elected free agency.
Pérez has hit .221/.286/.314 in 228 plate appearances over parts of three seasons in Tampa Bay. The 28-year-old has a pair of option seasons remaining and isn’t yet eligible for arbitration, so he’s an affordable piece to either back up Jacob Stallings or perhaps get the lion’s share of playing time behind the plate if Stallings is dealt this winter.
Between the declination of Mike Zunino’s club option and the losses of Pérez and Smith, the Rays are set to completely revamp their catching mix this offseason.
who’s gonna catch for them?
Prospect Ronaldo Hernandez is well liked in the organization
i know he’s on the horizon, but is he ready yet?
They’re gonna trade Austin Meadows for Austin Barnes or Francisco Mejia. Something weird like that.
Sleeper team for Realmuto?
realmuto, or a smaller fish like mccann or something
No way the Rays are paying for JTR or McCann. They’ll come up with a creative, inexpensive way to restock their catching situation. They could actually re-sign Zunino to a lesser amount if they can deal with his anemic offensive output.
Wouldn’t be the first time.
they arent paying big for either of those if they wolnt hold onto Morton
Cleveland will pick up Roberto Perez’s option and deal him to the Rays for an outfielder.
That’s a reasonable proposal
Good move by the Pirates, may seem like a small move, but Perez is a good backup catcher that the Pirates desperately needed.
Question: How does the waiver wire actually work? Not how it gets ordered (I understand that is based on reverse standings), but how do teams get notified if they want a players off waivers? Does the GM that is out-righting the player go through a list of GMs calling them and asking if they want to claim the player, or do other GMs just randomly ask the GM if said player is still available? I’d imagine it would be a smoother process if it worked like the former, but I wouldn’t know.
When a team wants to waive a player, they have to notify the MLB league office and the league puts the player on the ‘waiver wire’. All teams are notified by the MLB league office that a player has been put on waivers, so interested teams put in claims to the league office for players on waivers within the allotted timeframe. The player is awarded to the worst team (record-wise) that put in a claim for the player.
Ok thanks.
Also, if two teams tie with the worst record and claim the waiver, the opposite league has first rights to the claim. So if the player is a NL waiver, the AL team would win the waiver. It’s the tie breaker and other scenarios are there as well. But rarely do the worst teams finish with the same record
Nothing says Rays like getting rid of both your catchers and a #2 starter less than a week after playing in the World Series.
#3 starter and Morton has already stated he’d be willing to re negotiate his contract to stay with the Rays
Morton is arguably their best starter when healthy and is money in the playoffs. #2 at worst.
As a longtime Pirates fan, I can say:
Charlie Morton is the man. True professional, always delivers more than expected.
should’ve signed d’arnoud last off season, worth every penny of the $8 mil / year he’s making in ATL
Maybe they get a loan from the Yankees and sign Realmuto
Time to call Wilson Ramos back.
A bit surprising that the Rays couldn’t find a trade partner for Perez; his value is obvious, in that he was grabbed by the first team with priority. Ya, he fills a need for the Bucs; so does just about anyone else on the wire. But there’s a few teams that can use someone with Perez’ skill set. And he’s still minimum wage.
Agreed, LH bat with good arm. Are trades allowed right now? They could’ve held onto him and tried to deal him in a few days. Maybe they need to add a pending MiBLFA to the roster?
Sure they could trade but I think they are just waiting for the qo to get itself extra fries and past the window
With the shape of the league right now with the pandemic, it doesn’t surprise me that teams aren’t moving on trades. With the finical strain on baseball this year, teams are more likely to hold onto “assets” instead of trading for a backup catcher. To be honest, I am more surprised Tampa let Perez go on the waiver wire with a year or so of control. Another mans trash is another mans treasure. Bucs may have won this one after that horrible Archers trade.
Inciarte and some $ for Kiemeyer and Contreras
Buyer beware, Rays are going to be trading for a catcher, you better think long and hard (that is what she said) why the Rays are targeting your catcher in a trade.
You can have stallings. And I congratulate you on your WS appearance you still lost. Let’s not pretend everything your team management does turns to gold
I can”t believe no one mentions Royals Salvador Perez. Before realmuto he was considered the best catcher. Let’s try a trade for him?
Sorry, Indy, Contreras and $ for KK
Help me understand why the Rays would waive Perez and decline Zunino. Perez is cheap and under control. Do they need to clear 40-man space? Do they have any catchers on the 40-man?
Ronaldo Hernandez is still on the 40-man. Knowing this team, something completely crazy will happen though, like they’ve been training Wander Franco to play catcher at the alternate site all season long and nobody knew about it.