The Texas Rangers have signed left-hander Martin Perez to a four-year deal with club options that potentially carry the contract through the 2020 season, reports Jeff Wilson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Rangers, LHP Martin Perez agree to 4-year, $12.5 million contract
Including the option years on the end of the deal, the young southpaw could stick around in Arlington through the end of the decade.
Rick Yeatts
The new deal will pay Perez $12.5 million over the four years, with the final $2.5 million serving as a buyout if the option years are not picked up, per Joel Sherman of the NY Post. The three club options are worth $6 million (2018), $7.5 million (2019) and $9 million (2020), according to Anthony Andro of FOX Sports SW.
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The guaranteed portion of the deal gives Perez a known salary through the 2017 season, buying out his two remaining pre-arbitration years, as well his first two seasons of arbitration eligibility. Add in the three options at the end of the contract -- for the 2018, 2019 and 2020 seasons -- and the Rangers could potentially hold on to Perez through his first two seasons of free agency.
SB Nation's MLB Awards
SB Nation polled its network of team bloggers to recognize MLB's best, unfettered by any of the pretensions that warp the ballots for the "real" awards. Perez, 22, was the Rangers’ top pitching prospect headed into the 2013 season. He was all set to take up residence in the club’s Opening Day rotation, but suffered a freak injury during Spring Training and was forced to miss the first few weeks of the year.
When Perez finally did join the rotation at the end of May, he mostly lived up to the hype. The southpaw made 20 starts for Texas on the year, posting a 3.62 earned-run average and a strikeout-to-walk ratio of a little better than two-to-one in 124⅓ innings.
With Perez locked down for the near future, the Rangers now have four of their starting pitchers signed to long-term deals. Yu Darvish, Derek Holland, Matt Harrison and Perez are all under contract with Texas through at least the 2016 season.
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