The Red Sox and Left Handed Martín Pérez agreed to join forces for the second consecutive season, according to Ken Rosenthal of Atlético (via Twitter) Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com confirms the deal, pending a physical examination. Pérez will earn a salary of $ 4.5 million in 2021 with an option of $ 6 million for 2022 that comes with a purchase of $ 500 thousand (Twitter links) He will also earn an extra $ 100,000 for every ten entries, starting with 130 entries in 2021, with a maximum of $ 500,000, adds Rosenthal. Pérez is represented by Grupo OL Baseball.
Last year’s pact worked well enough for both sides to basically revert it to a slightly lower price. Boston declined its $ 6.25 million option last November, instead paying a $ 500,000 purchase. After pledging $ 6.5 million last year, Pérez signed a $ 5 million guarantee this time with the potential for an additional $ 6 million if Boston chooses its 2022 option.
Cotillo said throughout the winter that the Red Sox will need to add at least two arms for their rotation, so an agreement with Pérez does not preclude a later agreement for an arm like Garrett Richards, Matt Moore, or Jake Odorizzi. Still, Pérez fills a big hole as a safe bet for eating entrees. He deftly commanded that rank in 2020 for the Red Sox, averaging more than five entries per game in 12 matches. He had 4.50 ERA / 4.88 FIP with only 17.6% strikeout rate, 10.7% walk rate and 38.5% groundball rate.
While these numbers don’t put the Red Sox back in the running, they do represent an important level of consistency. A club under reconstruction like Boston relies on the production of veterans in certain places on the roster to encourage staff and management as they maneuver an exhausting season of 162 games. For example, they can resist the temptation to run into the younger arms while Chris Sale works to recover from an injury. In the game, they can be more conservative with Eduardo rodriguezIt’s innings knowing that Pérez can help protect the bullpen from overuse.
After all, Boston’s rotation is fraught with concerns about long-term injuries. From now on, Pérez joins Rodriguez, Nathan Eovaldi, Tanner Houck and Nick Pivetta in the top five, although, as we mentioned above, Boston is currently working with a dynamic group of rotating candidates. Choice of rule 5 Garrett Whitlock may be a candidate for beginners, Sale should return sometime during the season, and they will take a look at younger arms Connor Seabold and Bryan Mata during spring training.