The Padres announced that they have acquired right-hander Luis Perdomo from the Rockies in exchange for cash considerations of a player to be named later. Colorado took Perdomo with the fourth pick in today’s Rule 5 Draft.
The 22-year-old Perdomo, not to be confused with the journeyman right-hander of the same name, split this past season across the Cardinals’ Class-A affiliates in the Midwest League and Florida State League. Perdomo posted a combined 3.98 ERA with 8.4 K/9 against 2.6 BB/9 while working almost exclusively out of the rotation. (He did make one relief appearance.)
Baseball America’s J.J. Cooper recently wrote that Perdomo sits 93-95 mph with his fastball and features a tight slider. While he’s yet to appear above Class-A Advanced, Cooper noted that a club could select Perdomo with the hopes that he could thrive in a bullpen role by focusing only on those two pitches. MLB.com’s Corey Brock, however, tweets that GM A.J. Preller says Perdomo will come to Spring Training as a starter and possibly moved to the bullpen if necessary. MLB.com’s Jim Callis called Perdomo’s slider a plus pitch and offered a similar take on his velocity in his own preview.
By acquiring Perdomo, the Padres have added their fourth player from today’s Rule 5 pick. San Diego made two picks of its own — right-handers Josh Martin and Blake Smith — and also acquired outfielder Jabari Blash from the Athletics. All four players will have to be carried on the active roster, lest they be exposed to waivers and, if they clear, offered back to their original organization for $50K.
