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Orioles Sign Michael Perez, Albert Suarez To Minor League Deals

By Nick Deeds | December 30, 2023 at 4:15pm CDT

The Orioles announced seven minor league deals this afternoon, with catcher Michael Perez and right-hander Albert Suarez standing out as the only two with previous major league experience.

Perez, was a fifth-round pick by the Diamondbacks in the 2011 draft but didn’t make his major league debut until 2018 as a member of the Rays. Perez spent three seasons in Tampa backing up Wilson Ramos and, later, Mike Zunino. Those three seasons saw Perez get into just 84 games total, where he slashed a meager .221/.286/.314 in 228 trips to the plate. That weak performance eventually led the club to designate Perez for assignment as they sought to revamp their catching corps following their AL pennant-winning 2020 season.

Perez then returned to the NL to serve as the backup to Jacob Stallings in Pittsburgh for the 2021 season after being claimed off waivers from the Rays. While Perez appeared in a career-high 70 games for the Pirates in 2021, he only managed an anemic .143/.221/.290 slash line in 231 plate appearances. Despite that weak performance, Perez remained with Pittsburgh to start the 2022 season before eventually being traded to the Mets just before the trade deadline that summer.

The Mets eventually designated Perez for assignment in October before reuniting with him on a minor league deal later in the offseason. Perez then managed to secure a spot on the 40-man roster back in May following the placements of Omar Narvaez and Tomas Nido on the injured list, but the veteran journeyman appeared in just three games for the Mets throughout the year, as he spent most of his 2023 campaign at the Triple-A level. The Mets ultimately outrighted Perez off the roster when the offseason arrived, and he departed for minor league free agency.

Now in Baltimore, Perez figures to act as non-roster depth for the Orioles behind the club’s catching tandem of Adley Rutschman and James McCann alongside fellow minor league signing David Banuelos, who has no major league experience but slashed an impressive .270/.369/.526 at the Double-A level for the Twins last year.

As for Suarez, the 34-year-old right-hander last appeared in the major leagues in 2017 as a member of the Giants. For his career, the righty sports a 4.51 ERA and 4.40 FIP across 115 2/3 innings of work in the majors. Since then, Suarez briefly appeared with the Diamondbacks at the Triple-A level before trying his luck overseas. The righty managed a 3.00 ERA in 162 innings of work in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball before moving on to the Korea Baseball Organization, where he pitched for the Samsung Lions for two years. In that time, Suarez appeared in 49 games for the Lions, 48 of them starts. The righty struck out 19.4% of batters faced while posting a 3.04 ERA in 281 2/3 innings of work for the Lions before ultimately being released to make room for right-hander Taylor Widener back in August.

After half a decade overseas, Suarez is now returning to stateside ball as a member of the Orioles organization, where he figures to serve as non-roster pitching depth who could pitch both out of the rotation or in the bullpen. It’s a role he shares with Tucker Davidson, who the club outrighted to the minor leagues earlier this offseason. Suarez figures to compete alongside the likes of Davidson, Mike Baumann, and Bruce Zimmermann for a role on the big league club this spring.

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Baltimore Orioles Transactions Albert Suarez David Banuelos Michael Perez

Blue Jays Interested In Gio Urshela
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Free Agent Profile: Marcus Stroman
View Comments (11)
Post a Comment

11 Comments

  1. Lefty_Orioles_Fan

    2 years ago

    Hey this will Bring Home the Bacon for sure

    1
    Reply
  2. Curly Was The Smart Stooge

    2 years ago

    Any more trades for -EZ’s will make it “easy” for Balt…

    2
    Reply
  3. O'sSayCanYouSee

    2 years ago

    …now we’re talking…???

    Reply
  4. Six Shooter

    2 years ago

    I feel like the O’s are somehow doing this as a flex.

    “We have the best catcher in baseball”

    Reply
  5. Old York

    2 years ago

    Nice! I picked these guys on the FA contest to sign with the O’s.

    2
    Reply
  6. Jgwi2az

    2 years ago

    Ok. Don’t tell us who the other 5 are.

    4
    Reply
    • schwender

      2 years ago

      Catchers Perez and David Banuelos
      Relievers Jakob Hernandez, Suarez, Nate Webb, Wandisson Charles, and Luis Gonzalez

      Perez was the only one not known before today.

      1
      Reply
  7. DarkSide830

    2 years ago

    Suarez is a great depth get.

    Reply
  8. Jacksson13

    1 year ago

    Suarez may have honed his abilities overseas to the point that now he “gets it”. Looking back it doesn’t seem as though he was given a serious chance with the SF Giants. This could be a good under the radar find for the O’s or could be just what amounts to a Spring Training audition for a position with the organizations of the other MLB teams.

    Reply
  9. JackStrawb

    1 year ago

    Looks like the Mets are ridin’ with Alvarez, Narvaez, and Nido.

    They’re going to miss Perez and his 1.125 OPS in 2024. +0.3 WAR in just 8 PA, or pro rates to 18.75 WAR in 500 PA.

    What are they thinking!!

    Reply
  10. reakin1

    1 year ago

    Woo, Woo… print them World Series tickets !!!

    Reply

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