Hector Perez has elected to become a free agent, as per the right-hander’s MLB.com profile page. Perez cleared waivers after being designated for assignment by the Rays earlier this week, and he opted to test the open market rather than accept an outright assignment to the Rays’ Triple-A affiliate.
Because Perez had previously been outrighted in his career, he has the right to turn down any future outright assignments. That first outright move came back in April, when the Rays brought Perez to the active roster for a one-day stint, but then designated him (and subsequently outrighted him to Triple-A) before he could appear in a game.
It has been a whirlwind of transactions for Perez just within the last four days, as Tampa Bay only selected his contract from Triple-A Durham on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Perez tossed one third of an inning in the Rays’ 6-1 victory over the Giants and was then DFA’ed the next day. This brief outing marked Perez’s first Major League game since his big league debut, when he threw 1 2/3 frames for the Blue Jays in 2020.
These two games represents the entirety of Perez’s MLB resume, as he spent the rest of his nine-year pro career in the minor leagues. An international signing for the Astros in 2014, Perez has played for five different organizations at the minor league level, and came to the Rays last winter after they selected him away from the Orioles in the minor league version of the Rule 5 Draft.
Trending mostly towards relief pitching over the last few years, Perez has started 82 of his 197 career games in the minors, totaling 583 innings. He has a respectable 3.78 ERA and a 26.7% strikeout rate over his time on the farm, but control has long been an issue for Perez, with a career minor league walk rate of 14.35%.
Hector the free-agency elector. Best of luck!
I think free agency elected Hector.
Should go to the White Sox, they have no pitching