The Braves and veteran lefty Martín Pérez are in agreement on another minor league contract, reports Jon Heyman of the New York Post. Atlanta designated the 35-year-old for assignment over the weekend, and he elected free agency after clearing waivers. The Octagon client is now quickly returning to the Braves organization on a non-guaranteed deal, although given the mountain of injuries on the Atlanta pitching staff, it’s likely that Pérez will be back in the major league fold before all that long.
It’s increasingly common in today’s game for mid-30s veterans — particularly pitchers — to be designated for assignment and quickly re-sign upon being released. The Braves themselves have done this frequently in the past with Jesse Chavez, and we’ve seen clubs like the Mariners (Casey Lawrence), Yankees (Ryan Weber, David Hale) and Marlins (Devin Smeltzer) regularly shuffle players on and off the 40-man roster via repeated cycles of DFA, outright, and new minor league pacts. Organizations are typically up front about their intentions in these scenarios, and the player is obviously amenable to the setup. We don’t yet know if that’s the route down which Pérez is headed with Atlanta, but this is a first step in that direction.
Pérez has made three appearances for manager Walt Weiss’ club this season — two starts, one relief outing — and held opponents to five runs in 14 1/3 innings. That comes out to a tidy 3.14 earned run average, but Pérez’s six strikeouts (11.3%) and 90 mph sinker make it tough to imagine him sustaining that level of run prevention.
The veteran Pérez has been a reliable back-end starter in the second act of his career, dating back to 2020, with a collective 3.99 ERA in his past 719 1/3 MLB frames. That number is skewed a bit by an outlier 2022 season (2.89 ERA in 196 innings); Pérez has generally been good for bulk innings and a mid-4.00s ERA. Metrics like FIP (4.39) and SIERA (4.65) feel that’s about where his run prevention should reside, based on his strikeouts, walks, ground balls, etc.
The Braves currently have an entire rotation’s worth of arms on the injured list. Spencer Strider (oblique strain), Spencer Schwellenbach (surgery to remove bone chips from elbow), Hurston Waldrep (same as Schwellenbach), AJ Smith-Shawver (Tommy John surgery last June) and Joey Wentz (torn ACL) are all on the shelf. Wentz won’t return this season. Smith-Shawver, Schwellenbach and Waldrep are likely out until early or mid-summer.
At the moment, Atlanta’s rotation includes Chris Sale, Reynaldo López, Grant Holmes and Bryce Elder. Lefty José Suarez and righty Osvaldo Bido are swing options in the bullpen. Prospects JR Ritchie and Didier Fuentes are intriguing options in the minor leagues, though the former has yet to make his MLB debut and is not yet on the 40-man roster.
Pérez adds an experienced depth option to the mix. There’s enough track record here that he could pitch his way into a more permanent rotation spot, but if he’s comfortable riding the DFA carousel that Atlanta has previously utilized with Chavez, that could also present a path to somewhat consistent innings (albeit a more circuitous one).
Ahhh they’re pulling the famous Jesse Chavez move with him.
I’m still waiting for the update that Charlie Morton and Jesse Chavez are back in Atlanta.
Right, he is the left handed Jesse.
I still don’t get why they kept Jose Suarez over him, but I guess it doesn’t matter now.
My guess is that there’s more of a need right now for a southpaw RP, which Suarez is more of than Perez (without moving roles). If he’s returning, I’d imagine the FO has told him he would get some spot starts as a cheap rotation experience, as they try and ease Fuentes/Ritchie into the rotation. They just brought up LHP RP Hayden Harris, who I always thought was either Suarez and/or Bummer’s replacement (before Bummer had his contract reworked). Until Harris can prove himself, Suarez is probably safe, for now. He had a good spring training, though he hasn’t started the season well. Considering much of the rest of the ‘pen has been decent (Bummer notwithstanding), that might have bought him some grace. (End of speculation)
You got that right!
Martin either really likes playing for the Braves or he was promised a big league role and took that minor league deal in good faith because quite a few teams would have been making offers for a major league deal.
Perhaps he needed to sign a new contract in order to get opt out should the Braves end up not needing him. I don’t know if Article XX(B) opt-out provisions would apply after his first contract was selected and he was subsequently outrighted. If Article XX(B) was satisfied by his being called up, he might have gotten stuck in Gwinnett after being outrighted.
If I’m being honest this type of roster manipulation shouldn’t be allowed
On a personal level I’m happy he’s back because he needs to be the 5th starter for the time being until Strider returns
Why shouldn’t it be allowed?
I could be wrong, but I actually think that many of those veterans who are done this way are at least thankful this is a possible option.
I believe he has enough tenure to choose Free Agency and still keep his pay. I don’t know if his new contract is in addition to the old one or if it replaces it. Either way, he’s probably making more money than he was looking at to start the season.
Honestly don’t know why any would have an issue with this. He can still sign with anyine if he wanted to. This gives guys without options more chances
He’s a solid pitcher, glad the Braves held onto him. I’m sure he’ll reappear in Atlanta soon enough.