Article: Twins Sign Left-Handed Pitcher Martin Perez

[TheLeviathan]

At this point he's behind Moya and Rogers as lefties in the bullpen right? 

 

I know he was once a top prospect, but this is too much guaranteed.

[Winston Smith]

 

Maybe some of us want deals that are difference makers, not bargains or low risk. Difference makers.

Maybe try raising the ceiling and not the floor.

[Otto von Ballpark]

Left handed pitcher who in the bullpen last year did fine. Still only 27 on a 1 year deal. Not sure what folks are upset about. Low risk deal.

Perez did fine in the bullpen last year? 11 IP, 5 runs, 9 hits, 5 walks, 7 Ks. 5.7 K/9, 1.273 WHIP, 4.09 RA9.

[mlhouse]

Just amazing.  The more I look at this Front Office the more I ask myself "What are these guys thinking".

 

This guy is a mediocre pitcher at best.  Check out his minor league career.  Compared to Adalberto Mejia or Stephen Gonsalves, Perez's minor league statistics do not hold water.  If Martin Perez would have been in the Twins minor league system it is doubtful that he would have even made the major league level yet, much less make it as a 21 year old international signing.  

 

the Twins have a long, long list of guys that are both starters and relievers they need to give a pronounced opportunity to before they should hand this guy the ball and $3.5 fn million dollars.  Every one of the following players has significantly more upside than Martin Perez and should be given every opportunity to achieve that. 

 

Fernando Romero

Stephen GOnsalves

Adalberto Moya

Kohl Stewart

Lewis Thorpe

Gabriel Moya

Andrew Vasquez

 

Every one of those guys has minor stellar minor league careers compared to Martin Perez.  Give them the chance to LOSE a job on the pitching staff.  Then when we build a more competitive team through development and evaluation, if you need a left hander in the rotation or bullpen, guys like Martin Perez are always around.

 

Save the $3.5 million.  Give the guys, many of htem with HUGE FN upsides the chance.  

 

WHY COMMIT TO MEDIOCRITY AT BEST?   IS THAT WHAT THIS FRONT OFFICE IS PROMISING US OVER THE LONG RUN?

[highlander]

Oh how the mighty have fallen!

[Homer Hanky]

 

Who else is excited for this season!

https://www.si.com/mlb/2018/03/19/rangers-martin-perez-injury-hit-bull-win-steak

 

this makes me more excited! 

[The Mask of Zoilo]

I dont get the doom and gloom with this minor move. Perez has performed as a league average starter. He pitched 280 innings in 2016 and 2017 at a level where Odorizzi is now and where Gonsalves and Stewart hope to be. Mejia and Romero especially have flashed more but haven't been consistently healthy. Thorpe and Graterol aren't ready. Throw in questions about Pineda's health following TJ surgery and we'll probably need Perez this year. It's one year and an option. It will come at a cost of Duffey, Magill or Granite. Granite is at best a 4th outfielder and Cave is better. Wade too I hope. How many 4th outfielders do you need? I think a lot of the negativity is due to the fact that Perez is a pitch to contact sinkerballer and no fan base is more weary of that then the twins. Hopefully Perez bounces back from a season lost to being gored by a bull and a high BABIP and saves us from back filling starts with the likes of Santiago, Gee, Turley, Jorge, Slegers et al.

[Mike Sixel]

I dont get the doom and gloom with this minor move. Perez has performed as a league average starter. He pitched 280 innings in 2016 and 2017 at a level where Odorizzi is now and where Gonsalves and Stewart hope to be. Mejia and Romero especially have flashed more but haven't been consistently healthy. Thorpe and Graterol aren't ready. Throw in questions about Pineda's health following TJ surgery and we'll probably need Perez this year. It's one year and an option. It will come at a cost of Duffey, Magill or Granite. Granite is at best a 4th outfielder and Cave is better. Wade too I hope. How many 4th outfielders do you need? I think a lot of the negativity is due to the fact that Perez is a pitch to contact sinkerballer and no fan base is more weary of that then the twins. Hopefully Perez bounces back from a season lost to being gored by a bull and a high BABIP and saves us from back filling starts with the likes of Santiago, Gee, Turley, Jorge, Slegers et al.

Does this actually move the needle? And, those aren't the fallback options this year.

[Danchat]

I dont get the doom and gloom with this minor move. Perez has performed as a league average starter. He pitched 280 innings in 2016 and 2017 at a level where Odorizzi is now and where Gonsalves and Stewart hope to be.

 

Perez was league average? How on earth was last year's 6.22 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and an unsightly 1.78 WHIP profile as average? He wasn't even replacement level last year, he was worth -0.9 (according to BBREF). Before then he was around 1.45 WHIP and 5 K/9... this is worth a minor league league and no 40 man spot, not over $3M in guaranteed cash. There are plenty of better options out there like Clay Buchholz and Gio Gonzalez, so if you're so dead-set on finding a new 5th starter, sign one of them.

[The Mask of Zoilo]

No it doesn't move the needle but unfortunately cannot change the ownership. I've lurked for awhile and agree with you in I'm looking forward to Portland getting a team. I do think Falvine have improved the depth of options so that those aren't the fallback options but of course Keuchel is better than Perez.

[gil4]

 

This feels very similar to the Anibal Sanchez deal last year, but at least Sanchez was a good pitcher at one point. 

It turns out they were right about Sanchez last year, but didn't keep him around long enough to see it.

[7r4de me]

Dumb. Better than granite or the angels dude. Thumbs up

[The Mask of Zoilo]

'Perez was league average? How on earth was last year's 6.22 ERA with 5.5 K/9 and an unsightly 1.78 WHIP profile as average? He wasn't even replacement level last year, he was worth -0.9 (according to BBREF)'

 

Yes he was horrible last year. I was talking about 2016 and 2017. Much like Morrison and Schoop, the Twins buy at a discount hoping for a rebound. It gets old when that's your only tactic in free agency.

[sampleSizeOfOne]

Who else is excited for this season!

Me!

 

(Winter, right? And Perez will help put the win in winter... Hopefully other seasons, too.)

[jokin]

 

Best guess: they're looking for a lefty opener to use in front of a righty primary. They used Moya in that role 6 times last year. Perez is used to starting. Maybe Perez first time through the order numbers look good?

 

Actually, Perez's numbers- career and in 2018- first time through the order are horrible in 2018 and statistically insignificant from his second time through the order for his career- the results are not exactly inspiring or suggestive of the Twins "finding value" via even semi-rigorous statistical analysis.

 

Soooo.... I guess the cost of Really Mediocre "lefty openers" has finally been calculated at $3.5M by our resident geniuses?

 

The only way the opener role comes close to making sense is if an opposing team's batting order has 4-5 of the first 6 hitting left handed.

[ahart10]

Jorge DeLeon is looking pretty good right now.

[USAFChief]

A quote from his Wikipedia page:

 

"He is compared to be a cross between Johan Santana and Greg Maddux by Jason Parks of Baseball Time in Arlington."

 

Well, Santana is almost 40, Maddux in his 50s, so that might be pretty accurate.

[thegambler]

Oh my GOD! We just wasted $3.5 million on the WORST pitcher in the league. So many better options than this guy bum. I don't know what the Twins are thinking. How many 5th starters can one team possibly employ? Trick question, Perez isn't even good enough to be a 5th starter. He shouldn't be pitching in the league, much less making $3.5 million. The pay structure in MLB is ridiculous.

[thegambler]

Well, the good news is that we can to take another bum off the 40 man roster to make room for this bum. I guess it's a very small bum improvement for $3.5 million, or at the very least Perez is just a higher priced bum

[MABB1959]

I don't understand why we didn't keep E Santana.  I think we will be sorry on this one.

[BJames]

The Problem is: He is signed and will be taking the place of someone that might have been better, like Gonsalves, Mejia, Moya, Vasquez or Thorpe.  We all know that a signed player always gets the playing time over guys under control, so the F.O.'s doesn't look bad, regardless of who's better.   I can see Move for one reason.  The F.O. wants another Lefty in the pen.  Which means not Moya.  So I don't see this as an improvement and see it more as a disappointment that the F.O. doesn't trust any of the younger Left Handers are any better then this.  Weak move by the F.O. and not necessary! This guy should have Signed a minor league contract with an invite to S.T. 

[thegambler]

Bluejays got Matt Shoemaker for 1 year $3.5 million. I would have much rather had him. Could have had Mike Fiers on a two year deal for $7 million/year. Even Garrett Richards went for.$7 million/year for two years. There's still options in free agency as well, like Ervin Santana (not sure why we're giving up on that guy).

[David HK]

 

There's one flaw if you look real close in the video. He was facing the Twins.

You know, this kind of reminds me of trading for John Ryan Murphy, because he hit that one home run against Perkins that one time.

[David HK]

 

I dont get the doom and gloom with this minor move. Perez has performed as a league average starter. He pitched 280 innings in 2016 and 2017 at a level where Odorizzi is now and where Gonsalves and Stewart hope to be. Mejia and Romero especially have flashed more but haven't been consistently healthy. Thorpe and Graterol aren't ready. Throw in questions about Pineda's health following TJ surgery and we'll probably need Perez this year. It's one year and an option. It will come at a cost of Duffey, Magill or Granite. Granite is at best a 4th outfielder and Cave is better. Wade too I hope. How many 4th outfielders do you need? I think a lot of the negativity is due to the fact that Perez is a pitch to contact sinkerballer and no fan base is more weary of that then the twins. Hopefully Perez bounces back from a season lost to being gored by a bull and a high BABIP and saves us from back filling starts with the likes of Santiago, Gee, Turley, Jorge, Slegers et al.

I'm finding it hard to get excited about this signing-- my first question was, who goes from the 40-man now? 

I love me some Granite, but I think he'd be the one that might suck the least to lose. 

Heck, I don't even know.

I was hoping for some Cody Allen news, not this.

[AlwaysinModeration]

Ok, let me chime in on this, because a)everyone is, and b)I know all will be eager for my take.

 

Here are reasons I can see taking a flier on this guy:

 

1. He was top-ranked as a prospect, hitting #18 on mlb.com, #17 on Baseball America, and #7 on Keith Law’s list. Granted, this was back in 2010, a long time ago. But there is a reason players get those sort of high rankings.

 

2. He’s 27. It’s unusual to get a former top prospect right at the start of their prime years. (This certainly seems an MO for the FO; get “the shine is off” 27-years olds - Schoop, Austin, Perez.)

 

3. He’s played in Texas, the most extreme pitcher’s park outside of Colorado (and maybe even including Colorado).

 

4. He had TJ surgery in 2014. It frequently takes a while for players to come back fully from that. (See Gibson, Kyle, and look upthread for nick’s lone wolf get-rid-of-the-sinker arguments). He also has had some odd injuries; the bull thing, and screwing up his thumb in a hotel door.

 

5. His MLB BABIP is .315, and it was .330 and .345 the last two years in Texas. Get a year of <300 and that alone might result in better numbers. Couldn’t find his minor league BABIP.

 

6. He’s from Venezuela and left handed, good change-up. (The Johan comps leap off the page. s/)

 

7. He came cheap, after Texas declined a $7.5mm option, they got him for $3.5 and a year option. He might be terrible, but if he puts it together, it could be a decent deal. Let’s remember, he’s being signed as a possible #5, nothing more, with not much risk. The Mets wanted him but weren’t going to give him a chance at the rotation, so he picked the Twins.

 

8. Levine knows him from Texas (as does Nelson Cruz?).

 

So, that’s what I’ve got. I also get that he hasn’t been good, he didn’t live up to his billing, his minors numbers also weren’t great, and he might be taking a spot from someone else. All of that is why he’s available at 27 for cheap.

 

Realistically, though, he’s probably getting 10-15 starts. If he gets 30 starts, it’s because he did well. I think Mejia, Romero, and Gonsalves all will get opportunities in the rotation this year; you need 8-10 starters every year.

 

I get people may have wanted someone else (Keuchel, Buchholz, Kimbrel, Allen), but I don’t think this is the worst move in the world.

[bighat]

Put this one in the "maybe" pile.

 

What this signing really tells me is that the Twins are feeling confident with the current starting pitching situation. Going into the season with Berrios, Gibby, Odorizzi, Pineda, and Mejia/Perez is the plan.

 

Now, time to sign some relief pitching and let's hit the ground running in spring training.

[Old Twins Cap]

Too cold for outrage this morning.

 

Looks like a LH Opener, a la Sergio Romo.

 

If he gets through the 1st inning, let him do two, or start him the next game.

 

Change of pace lefty could have value at the Deadline.

 

 

[Vanimal46]

I'm going to save this an example A when my future wife asks me why I'm so obsessed to make Vanimal Jr. a left handed player.

 

A guy who hasn't been good in 3 years still gets a $3.5 million contract because he's a breathing left handed pitcher. Unreal.

[lukeduke1980]

The guy doesn't strike people out. It seems so counter to our pitching revolution. Aaron Slegers could be a number 5 starter. This would be so less annoying if it was a spring training invite. But it's a top down directive that this guy will work out because we'll use the 'opener' and then squeeze 5 Perez innings out against the Royals. Aren't we clever.

[Richie the Rally Goat]

I’ll be the lone wolf on this one. I don’t like Martin Perez as we know him, but he is dang near a Kyle Gibson clone. A once top prospect with a boatload of pitches, good velocity but a deluded reliance on his sinker which likely caused his uneven career results.

 

If someone can talk sense into him and point at Gibson as the reason to be smarter about his pitches, maybe he can finally realize his potential.

 

Zero leash though, if he still stubbornly uses his sinker in spring training like he always has I don’t want him in the rotation to start the year.

interesting, your train of thought may mirror Falvine’s. I doubt the ability to replicate success in this fashion, but it would slightly less torch and pitch fork worthy than just settling for mediocrity because it’s cheap. Edited January 20, 2019 by Sconnie