D-backs signed southpaw Oliver Perez to a minor league contract, Perez himself tells Nick Piecoro of the Arizona Republic (Thread on Twitter). Perez is a client of Boras Corporation.
The Arizona deal represents a change in plans for the veteran Perez, who was previously scheduled to play Los Toros de Tijuana in the Mexican league next season. Pérez announced that he planned to retire after spending a season with the Thoros, although this signing and Pérez’ announcement were made while the MLB lockout was still in effect. For now, Perez will shift his focus and instead aim for an incredible 20th MLB season.
Perez, 40, has spent the past four seasons in Cleveland, where he’s pitched a combined 2.57 ERA in 94 2/3 assist work frames. Perez, however, only threw 3 2/3 innings in the Majors last year. He spent the rest of the season at the same Toros club he planned to play for before the lockout ended.
At the moment, the veteran Perez’s track record speaks for itself in many ways. After riding a roller coaster as a starting pitcher in the 2002-10 season, Perez moved to the bullpen with the 2012 Mariners and began what was essentially his second career as a pitcher. Long a typical left-hander, Perez has made 489 substitution appearances and 350 innings with a 3.42 ERA since that 2012 campaign began.
Implementing a three-slugging minimum wasn’t much of an achievement for pitchers with this kind of specialized skill set, but Perez had no problem taking out right-handed opponents in 2020. another story, but Perez retained the right to .229/.342/.286 in 41 plate appearances that year and was just as effective in a dozen more attempts last year.