Coming off a resurgent year, left-hander Martín Pérez has accepted the one-year, $19.65 million qualifying offer from the Rangers, a source told MLB.com’s Jon Morosi on Tuesday. The club has not confirmed the move.
In his second stint with the Rangers, Pérez had a strong campaign, earning his first All-Star appearance while posting a career-best 2.89 ERA over 196 1/3 innings. The lefty was one win shy of matching his 2017 best (13) and 2 2/3 frames shy of setting a new personal high.
An 11-year veteran, Pérez was the anchor of a Rangers staff that struggled to a 4.22 team ERA amidst a 94-loss season. The lefty finished eighth in the American League in ERA and fifth in innings pitched, as he produced 23 quality starts for Texas.
In 2022, Pérez thrived by limiting hard contact with his six-pitch arsenal dominated by his sinker (35.2%) and changeup (27.6%) combo. The cutter, which he just added in ‘19, became a quality pitch for the lefty as it played well off his sinker and changeup.
The Rangers signed Pérez in 2007 as an international free agent out of Venezuela, and he spent the first seven years of his big league career with Texas. He finished sixth in the AL Rookie of the Year vote in 2013, when he was the club’s top-ranked prospect. Even so, he didn’t quite live up to expectations at the time. During his first stint in Texas, Pérez posted a 4.63 ERA with a 1.48 WHIP as he struggled through the back end of his tenure.
Pérez’s resurgence in 2022 was more of a pleasant surprise considering his further decline in the three years after he left the Rangers the first time. After not returning to Texas following the 2018 season, Pérez went on to spend a year in Minnesota and two in Boston, where he struggled to a 4.88 ERA over those three years. He threw 114 innings with a 4.74 ERA with the Red Sox in ‘21, and he was sent to the bullpen midseason.