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Martin Perez

Quick Hits: Canha, Escobar, Marte, Mets, Perez, Suarez

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Starling Marte, Mark Canha, and Eduardo Escobar are all playing well for the first-place Mets, making the team’s investment in the trio look like a canny move.  The New York Post’s Joel Sherman looks back at how the Mets added all three players during a frenzied span of around two days prior to the lockout, and how newly-hired GM Billy Eppler “emphasized on-base percentage, defense, versatility and players with strong reputations as good teammates,” with a particular focus on how well such free agents could adapt to Citi Field.  Sherman’s piece contains several interesting details about the Mets’ pursuit of the three players, as well as some other info on some of the other suitors.

The Rangers (another of the winter’s more aggressive teams) and Dodgers were interested in Canha, while “the Mets saw the Giants as a threat” due to Canha’s ties to the Bay Area.  As for Marte, New York was a relatively late entry into that chase, as agent Peter Greenberg said he met with roughly 20 other teams before touching base with the Mets, since Eppler wasn’t officially hired until midway through November.  However, the Mets made up plenty of ground by offering Marte a big four-year, $78MM contract that outpaced the other bidders.  “What stands out to me is that the Mets came in and in less than 24 hours we had a deal,” Greenberg said.

More from around baseball….

  • Martin Perez has been one of the surprises of the 2022 season, as the veteran lefty has an AL-best 1.56 ERA over 69 1/3 innings, plus a 54.7% grounder rate and just a single home run allowed.  With encouragement from Rangers coaches, Perez has re-established his sinker as a big part of his arsenal, Evan Grant of The Dallas Morning News writes, and Perez also took a tip from the legendary Pedro Martinez about throwing more pitches outside the strike zone, to induce more chases from batters.  The results speak for themselves, as Perez is having a career year at age 31, and setting himself up for a much more lucrative trip to free agent this winter.  After the Red Sox declined their club option on Perez last fall, he told Grant that the Pirates and Nationals each had interest prior to the lockout, but Perez instead chose to return to a familiar environment and signed with Texas for a one-year, $4MM pact in March.
  • The Padres placed right-hander Robert Suarez on the 15-day injured list due to right knee inflammation earlier this week, and manager Bob Melvin told reporters (including reps from 97.3 The Fan radio) that Suarez recently had surgery to remove “loose impediments.”  A specific recovery timeline isn’t known, but Suarez will miss “at least a couple of weeks before we see him back throwing.”  The 31-year-old rookie has been a solid performer out of San Diego’s bullpen this year, with Suarez contributing a 3.09 ERA and 30.9% strikeout rate over 23 1/3 innings, though with a high 13.8% walk rate.

Rangers To Sign Martin Perez

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The Rangers have agreed to terms on a contract with free-agent lefty Martin Perez, reports FanSided’s Robert Murray (via Twitter). It’s a one-year, $4MM contract for Perez, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman adds. Perez, a client of Octagon, will return to the organization that originally signed and developed him. He made his big league debut with Texas in 2012 and spent the next seven seasons with the Rangers.

Perez, 31 next month, spent the 2019 season with the Twins and was with the Red Sox in 2020-21 before returning to Texas. In his three years away from his original club, the southpaw turned in 341 1/3 innings of 4.88 ERA ball with rather pedestrian strikeout (18.4%), walk (8.7%) and ground-ball (44.9%) rates. Boston declined a $6MM club option in favor of a $500K buyout on Perez after the 2021 season.

Once lauded as one of the sport’s premier pitching prospects, Perez has instead settled in as a back-of-the-rotation starter. Those 2019-21 rates represented a slight uptick over his career strikeout rate and a slight downgrade over his career ground-ball rate, but generally speaking, Perez’s output in three years away from Texas was roughly in line with his lifetime numbers at the big league level. He doesn’t necessarily work deep into starts, but Perez has avoided the injured list for the past three seasons, with the exception of a brief absence this past summer following a positive Covid-19 test. He’ll give the Rangers some needed stability at the back of a starting staff that was — and still is — in need of multiple arms.

Perez will join fellow offseason signee Jon Gray and right-hander Dane Dunning as one of the only three locks in the Texas rotation. Lefty Taylor Hearn could get another look, depending on other moves that are made, but he was hit hard in limited work out of the rotation while thriving in the bullpen this past season. Right-hander A.J. Alexy had a big year in the upper minors but a tepid 4.70 ERA in 23 big league frames. Prospects Spencer Howard and Glenn Otto, acquired at the trade deadline, both were hit hard in their brief MLB looks. Right-hander Yerry Rodriguez and southpaw Brock Burke are both on the 40-man roster but were both ineffective in Triple-A this past season.

Put another way, Perez figures to be one of multiple arms acquired by the Rangers, whether via free agency or trade. Texas has been strongly linked to hometown star Clayton Kershaw, and the general belief is that Kershaw will either return to the Dodgers this winter or sign with the Rangers to be close to his family. The Rangers are also known to be keenly interested in A’s first baseman Matt Olson, and Oakland has several arms who could be on the trade block alongside their All-Star first baseman (Sean Manaea, Chris Bassitt, Frankie Montas).

The Rangers’ hope is surely that 2021 No. 2 overall pick Jack Leiter and 2019 first-rounder Cole Winn — two of the sport’s most promising arms — will be able to factor into the big league rotation sooner than later. That may not be the case until 2023, however, so the veteran Perez will give them a bridge to those younger arms. His $4MM salary is a mere footnote in what’s been a massive offseason of spending for president of baseball operations Jon Daniels and general manager Chris Young. Texas has also signed Corey Seager (10 years, $325MM), Marcus Semien (seven years, $175MM), Gray (four years, $56MM) and Kole Calhoun (one year, $6.2MM), bumping their projected payroll to just under $134MM. That’s a notable increase from the past couple seasons but still a good bit shy of 2017’2 franchise-record $165MM payroll.

Red Sox Decline Options On Martin Perez, Garrett Richards

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The Red Sox have declined their $6MM club option on left-hander Martin Perez, per Alex Speier of The Boston Globe. He will instead receive a $500K buyout and head into free agency. Right-hander Garrett Richards will also have his $10MM option declined, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive. He gets a $1.5MM buyout on his way into the free agent pool.

The decision on Perez is largely unsurprising, given how things went for him in 2021. He posted mediocre results over the first few months of the season and was eventually bumped to a bullpen role for the playoff stretch. In 22 starts, the last of which was August 5th, he threw 100 innings with an ERA of 4.77, 19.1% strikeout rate and 7.4% walk rate. After moving to the bullpen, he logged 14 innings in 14 games with similar results, as he had an ERA of 4.50, strikeout rate of 18.8% and 4.7% walk rate. Perez also pitched three postseason innings for the Red Sox, but they didn’t go well, as he allowed six hits, four walks and four earned runs, without tallying a strikeout.

Despite that meager showing, Perez could garner some interest for a job at the back of a rotation or a swing role. Although he has a lengthy track record, he’s still relatively young, turning 31 in April. The lack of strikeouts have always been a part of his numbers and that hasn’t stopped him from having productive seasons in the past. He could help a team soak up some innings without a huge financial commitment.

As for Richards, he also made 22 starts but eventually got bumped into a bullpen role, just like Perez. His last start was August 8th, just a few days after his teammate’s. In those starts, he logged 110 1/3 innings with an ERA of 5.22, strikeout rate of 17.2% and 9.5% walk rate. After moving into a relief role, things seemed to greatly improve for him, as explored by MLBTR’s Steve Adams in September. At that time, Richards had thrown 20 2/3 innings out of the bullpen with an ERA of 0.87, a 29.4 percent strikeout rate, a 9.4 percent walk rate and a 48.1 percent ground-ball rate. However, his final few appearances weren’t great and his ERA as a reliever shot up to 3.42. Richards made one postseason appearance but was removed from the ALDS roster with a hamstring strain that ultimately ended his season.

He will make for an interesting wildcard option on the free agent market this year. He’s now far removed from his best stretch as a starter, which came in 2013-2015, but he showed flashes of potentially being an effective reliever, albeit in a fairly small sample size. He’ll turn 34 in May and seems to be in line for a short-term deal, whether it’s as a starter or reliever.

Red Sox Activate Martin Perez

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SEPTEMBER 14: As expected, Boston reinstated Pérez from the injured list before Tuesday’s game against the Mariners. To create roster space, righty Kaleb Ort has been removed from the active and 40-man rosters and returned to Worcester.

SEPTEMBER 13: The Red Sox have activated reliever Hirokazu Sawamura from the COVID-19 injured list. Fellow reliever Austin Davis is also back from paternity leave. In corresponding moves, Brad Peacock and Stephen Gonsalves were returned to Triple-A Worcester. Peacock and Gonsalves had each been selected to the roster as COVID replacements, so they can be removed from the active and 40-man rosters without being exposed to waivers. Additionally, right-hander Eduard Bazardo has been reinstated from the 60-day injured list and optioned to Worcester.

Sawamura has been out since August 31 after testing positive for the virus as part of the spread throughout the Sox’s clubhouse. Signed to a two-year deal over the offseason after a nine-year career in Japan’s Nippon Professional Baseball, Sawamura has a 3.09 ERA over 46 2/3 innings during his first MLB season. The 33-year-old has shown some worrying control issues, walking 14.2% of opposing hitters, but he’s also punched out an above-average 26.5% of batters faced.

Peacock has made two appearances (including one start) since being acquired from the Indians and called up in the early stages of the outbreak. He has allowed nine runs in 5 1/3 innings. Gonsalves, meanwhile, has worked 4 1/3 innings of two-run ball in relief, his first big league action since he tossed 24 2/3 frames as a rookie with the 2018 Twins.

Manager Alex Cora provided updates on a few more players on the COVID IL (via Chris Cotillo of MassLive and Pete Abraham of the Boston Globe). Lefty Martín Pérez is expected to make it back tomorrow, while closer Matt Barnes will make a couple minor league rehab appearances and is expected to return to the big league club this weekend. The team hopes that ace Chris Sale, who tested positive on September 9, will make it back to start a game against the Orioles this weekend.

Red Sox Acquire Brad Peacock From Indians

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The Red Sox announced they’ve acquired Brad Peacock from the Indians for cash considerations. Peacock is eligible to be traded even after the July 30 deadline because he hasn’t been on a 40-man roster this season and had joined Cleveland on a minor league deal.

Peacock landed with Cleveland a little more than two months ago. He has since made eleven appearances (ten starts) with their top affiliate in Columbus, where he’s worked to a 7.68 ERA over 34 innings. That’s obviously an unsightly run prevention number, but Peacock’s peripherals are quite a bit better. The 33-year-old has essentially league average marks in strikeout rate (23.8%) and walk percentage (8.8%). His 34.3% ground-ball rate is rather low — contributing to some home run troubles — but he’s also been plagued by an abnormally high .340 opponents’ batting average on balls in play and should strand runners at a better clip than his current 56.5% mark moving forward.

While Peacock hasn’t made it onto a big league roster yet this season, he has plenty of experience under his belt at the highest level. The right-hander broke into the majors with the Nationals in 2011 and saw action with the Astros every season from 2013-20. Peacock was generally productive in a swing role in Houston, where his tenure partially overlapped with Red Sox manager Alex Cora’s stint as the Astros’ bench coach. Between 2017-19, Peacock worked to a 3.46 ERA/3.59 FIP across 288 2/3 frames split between the rotation and the bullpen. He only made three relief appearances in 2020 before suffering a shoulder injury that ultimately required arthroscopic surgery — keeping him out of action until he landed with the Indians in late June.

Because Peacock wasn’t on Cleveland’s 40-man roster, he’ll head to Triple-A Worcester and won’t require an immediate roster spot with the Red Sox. He can remain on hand as high minors depth for either the rotation or long relief over the season’s final few weeks. Players acquired prior to September 1 are eligible for a team’s postseason roster, so Peacock could be a playoff option for Boston if he earns a big league promotion and if the team qualifies. The Red Sox enter play tonight holding a two and a half game advantage over the A’s for the American League’s final playoff spot.

Adding a pitcher capable of working multiple innings of relief took on some added importance for the Red Sox this afternoon. Martín Pérez has tested positive for COVID-19, the team informed reporters (including Rob Bradford of WEEI). That’ll keep the veteran southpaw out of action for at least the next week-plus. Pérez has allowed nine runs (five earned) in seven innings since being moved to the bullpen earlier this month.

Red Sox Move Martin Perez To Bullpen

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The Red Sox are bumping Martín Pérez to the bullpen, manager Alex Cora told reporters (including Steve Hewitt of the Boston Herald). Righty Tanner Houck is the favorite to take his place in the starting rotation.

Pérez has been a regular member of Boston’s starting five for the entirety of the past two seasons. He started 12 games in last year’s truncated campaign and has made 22 starts this season. The southpaw has reliably taken the ball on a regular basis, but he’s posted below-average results throughout his tenure in Boston. Pérez worked to a 4.50 ERA/5.43 SIERA across 62 innings last season, posting subpar strikeout and walk numbers in the process.

The southpaw did at least excel at avoiding damaging batted balls last year, though, holding opponents to an average exit velocity of 86.3MPH and a hard contact rate of a tiny 29.2%. That seemingly played into Boston’s decision to bring Pérez back on a $5MM guarantee, but his contact suppression skills haven’t carried over into 2021. Hitters are making solid contact on a lofty 42.3% of batted balls against him this year, the worst rate of his career. To his credit, Pérez has made some improvements in his strikeout and walk rates, but the more authoritative contact he’s giving up has contributed to an underwhelming 4.77 ERA over an even 100 frames.

Pérez will now transition into a bullpen role, where he’ll add another lefty to a group already including Josh Taylor and Austin Davis. Pérez has been better against left-handed hitters (.246/.333/.386) than righties (.284/.352/.475) over his time in Boston, so perhaps a situational role could serve him well. It does seem likely to come at a financial cost, as Pérez’s deal contains $100K bonuses for reaching each of 130, 140, 150, 160 and 170 innings pitched. A bullpen move will make it difficult for him to reach even the lowest of those thresholds down the stretch. The contract also contains a $6MM club option for 2022 that seems likelier to be bought out.

Houck has made six appearances (including four starts) in the majors this season. The 25-year-old has tossed 22 innings of 2.45 ERA ball, striking out hitters at an elite 33.7% clip while only walking 5.6% of opponents. Houck has posted similarly strong strikeout and walk numbers over six starts with Triple-A Worcester, although he’s been tagged for a less impressive 5.14 ERA in the minors. Between his strong peripherals at that level and quality results in his brief big league time, the former first-round pick has earned a more regular run in the MLB rotation.

The shakeup comes at a pivotal time for the Red Sox, who entered play tonight with a 64-46 record. Boston trails the Rays by 1.5 games in the AL East, and they’re 2.5 games up on the Athletics for the American League’s top Wild Card spot. Houck is expected to take the ball tomorrow afternoon against the Blue Jays, who trail Boston in the standings by five games.

Red Sox To Sign Martín Pérez

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The Red Sox and southpaw Martín Pérez have agreed to join forces for a second consecutive season, per the Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (via Twitter). Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com confirms the deal, pending a physical. Pérez will earn a  $4.5MM salary in 2021 with a $6MM option for 2022 that comes with a $500K buyout (Twitter links). He’ll also earn an extra $100K for every ten innings starting at 130 innings in 2021, with a max of $500K, adds Rosenthal. Pérez is represented by the OL Baseball Group.

Last year’s pact worked out well enough for both sides to essentially roll it back at a slightly lower price point. Boston declined its $6.25MM option this past November, instead paying a $500K buyout. After being guaranteed $6.5MM last year, Pérez signs for a $5MM guarantee this time around with the potential for an additional $6MM if Boston picks up their 2022 option.

Cotillo has said all winter that the Red Sox will need to add at least two arms for their rotation, so an agreement with Pérez doesn’t preclude a later deal for an arm like Garrett Richards, Matt Moore, or Jake Odorizzi. Still, Pérez fills a big hole as a safe bet to eat innings. He ably manned that post in 2020 for the Red Sox, averaging more than five innings per start over 12 starts. He had a 4.50 ERA/4.88 FIP with just a 17.6 percent strikeout rate, 10.7 percent walk rate, and 38.5 percent groundball rate.

While those numbers themselves won’t get the Red Sox back into contention, they represent an important level of consistency. A rebuilding club like Boston relies on rote veteran production at certain places on the roster in order to embolden the coaching staff and front office as they maneuver a grueling 162-game season. For example, they can resist the temptation to rush younger arms while Chris Sale works his way back from injury. In-game, they can be more conservative with Eduardo Rodriguez’s innings knowing that Pérez can help protect the bullpen from overuse.

Boston’s rotation, after all, is riddled with long-term injury concerns. As of right now, Pérez joins Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta in their starting five, though as we mentioned above, Boston’s working with a dynamic pool of rotation candidates at this time. Rule 5 pick Garrett Whitlock could be a candidate for starts, Sale should return at some point during the season, and they’ll take a look at younger arms like Connor Seabold and Bryan Mata during spring training.

Quick Hits: Martín Pérez, Coliseum

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There was some heavy lifting done in the baseball world yesterday: it was arbitration filing day, as well as the opening of the international signing period. Today is a recovery day. Here’s the latest…

  • Before agreeing to terms with the Red Sox, southpaw Martín Pérez had no shortage of suitors. The Astros, Padres, Royals, White Sox, and Rays all showed interest in Pérez, per Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com (via Twitter). The Padres and White Sox have generally set their sights a touch higher than Pérez, but there’s clearly some trust around the league in Perez’s ability to contribute to a playoff-caliber pitching staff.
  • The Oakland A’s have long faced questions about their ability to stay in Oakland because of stadium concerns. The Coliseum sits on land with split ownership between the A’s and the city of Oakland. The organization continues to look for a site to build a new stadium, but the city of Oakland has also received a number of offers for their portion of the Coliseum land. One of those offers comes from former Oakland pitcher Dave Stewart, per Susan Slusser and Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle. Stewart, an Oakland native, submitted a $115MM bid with plans to revitalize the area, whether or not the A’s continue to play there. The city of Oakland is reviewing all offers.

Padres Still Open To Rotation Additions, Have Looked Into Tanaka, Perez

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3:02pm: Lefty Martin Perez is another name on the Padres’ radar, tweets Rosenthal. San Diego general manager A.J. Preller played an integral role in signing and developing Perez during his days with the Rangers.

While connections between GMs and players they’ve drafted/signed/developed with prior organizations don’t always carry tons of weight, Preller has frequently shown an affinity for former Rangers since taking the reins in San Diego. Not only did he acquire Darvish earlier this winter, but he’s also acquired Jurickson Profar, Mitch Moreland and Carl Edwards Jr. in past trades and signed Ian Kinsler on a two-year free-agent deal.

None of that makes Perez any sort of lock to land in San Diego, of course, but his price tag seems more in line with the back-of-the-rotation depth role that appears available in San Diego than does Tanaka’s expected price point.

Perez, who once rated as one of the game’s elite pitching prospects, has yet to justify the considerable prospect fanfare attached to his name as a minor leaguer, but he’s a durable fifth starter who had a decent showing with the Red Sox in 2020 when he posted a 4.50 ERA in 68 innings. Beyond the ERA, there wasn’t much to like about Perez’s season: 5.43 SIERA, 6.9% K-BB%, career-low 38.5 percent grounder rate. Perez, however, has yet to turn 30, and the lone arm injury he’s suffered since 2015 Tommy John surgery came when he sustained an offseason injury in his non-throwing elbow on his ranch in Venezuela.

2:00pm: The Padres have already overhauled their pitching staff since the 2020 trade deadline, adding Mike Clevinger, Yu Darvish and Blake Snell in a trio of trades. (Clevinger, of course, is expected to miss the bulk of 2021 following Tommy John surgery.) Despite those acquisitions, the Padres still at least open to further additions and are doing “background work” on multiple candidates, including righty Masahiro Tanaka, per Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription required).

It’s been relatively quiet in terms of Tanaka chatter this winter. There’s been plenty of speculation about a possible reunion with the Yankees, given his dependability and success in the Bronx, but the team’s focus has been squarely on DJ LeMahieu to this point. A Tanaka reunion still seems plausible, particularly if LeMahieu ultimately goes elsewhere. As Rosenthal points out, the 32-year-old Tanaka is no stranger to Padres pitching coach Larry Rothschild, who served as the right-hander’s pitching coach with the Yankees from 2014-18. And based on his track record, Tanaka ought to have plenty of other suitors. He’s also left the door open for a possible return to Japan.

Tanaka started 10 games for the Yankees in 2020, pitching to a 3.56 ERA and 4.07 SIERA while striking out 22.3 percent of the hitters he faced against a 4.1 percent walk rate — the latter being the second-best mark of his career. While Tanaka may not be the ace that Yankees fans hoped he could become when he was initially signed to a seven-year contract, he’s become a rock-solid mid-rotation starter who could deepen just about any staff in baseball. Over the past three seasons, Tanaka has pitched to a 4.06 ERA and near-identical 4.03 SIERA with a 16.9 K-BB%.

At the moment, the San Diego rotation figures to be headlined by Darvish, Snell, Dinelson Lamet and Chris Paddack. Young lefty Adrian Morejon could be the early favorite for the fifth spot, and uber-prospect MacKenzie Gore looms on the horizon as an expected addition at some point in 2021. Still, Lamet missed the postseason due to elbow troubles, and signing Tanaka could help the Padres to limit the workloads of not only Lamet but also touted youngsters like Morejon and Gore. It’s expected that clubs will look for ways to prevent major workload spikes from 2020’s 60-game slate to what is currently hoped to be a full 162-game set in 2021; signing Tanaka or another veteran arm would certainly help a win-now Padres club work toward that end.

The larger question for the Padres could be one of spending capacity. The Friars are already in line to open the season north of $160MM both in present-day payroll and luxury tax obligations. Both are franchise records for the San Diego organization at a time when most other clubs throughout the league are looking to offset revenue losses from this past season. Signing Tanaka would quite likely push the Padres beyond $170MM.

Pitching Notes: Smyly, Giants, C. Anderson, M. Perez

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The latest news and notes from the mound:

  • Left-hander Drew Smyly came off the open market Monday when he and the Braves reached a one-year, $11MM agreement. That represents a nice raise for someone who signed a one-year, $4MM guarantee with San Francisco last winter, but the 31-year-old Smyly had his sights set even higher than the salary he’ll earn with the Braves. Smyly was requesting a contract in the three-year, $30MM neighborhood before inking his Braves pact, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports. That’s an ambitious asking price for a hurler who has dealt with serious injuries throughout his career, and it’s worth noting Smyly struggled mightily as recently as 2019. To Smyly’s credit, though, he had a big-time bounce-back campaign this past season with a 3.42 ERA/2.01 FIP, 14.35 K/9 against 3.08 BB/9, and a 2.6 mph increase in average fastball velocity over 26 1/3 innings.
  • With Smyly out of the picture for the Giants, Grant Brisbee of The Athletic takes a look at a few low-cost starters they could explore to replace him this winter. In Brisbee’s estimation, Chris Archer, Alex Wood, Matt Shoemaker and Anthony DeSclafani could make for intriguing reclamation projects for the Giants’ rotation. Nobody from that group looks especially exciting right now, but neither did Smyly at this time a year ago, and he proved to be a shrewd pickup for San Francisco.
  • There are “several teams” that have shown interest in free-agent right-hander Chase Anderson, Robert Murray of Fansided writes. While Anderson has typically been a useful mid- to back-end starter since he debuted in 2014, the 32-year-old had a brutal 2020 in his lone season with the Blue Jays. Anderson concluded with 33 2/3 innings of 7.22 ERA/6.16 FIP ball, owing largely to a horrific 28.9 percent home run-to-fly ball ratio, though he did post impressive strikeout and walk numbers (10.16 K/9, 2.67 BB/9). Toronto had a $9.5MM option over Anderson for 2021, but it bought him out for $500K.
  • As is the case with Anderson, there is more than one team interested in free-agent southpaw Martin Perez, according to Murray. Perez spent 2020 with the Red Sox and recorded a 4.50 ERA/4.88 FIP with 6.88 K/9 and 4.06 BB/9 across 62 frames. The Red Sox then bought out the 29-year-old for $500K in lieu of paying him a $6.85MM option for next season.
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