At one time, Oliver Perez was a pitcher who caused a lot of uncomfortable at-bats. The Seattle Mariners hope he can be that player again.
Seattle signed the 30-year-old left-hander to a one-year, minor-league contract.
Perez, plagued by control issues throughout his nine years in the majors, did not pitch in the majors last year. He spent the season with the Double-A Harrisburg Senators in the Washington Nationals organization, going 3-5 with a 3.09 ERA with 58 strikeouts in 16 games, covering 752/3 innings.
He has pitched well in the Mexican Winter League. In 14 innings, he has 19 strikeouts with an ERA of 0.63 despite an 0-2 record.
Previously, he pitched for San Diego (2002-2003), Pittsburgh (2003-2006) and the New York Mets (2006-2010). He has a career record of 58-69 with a 4.63 ERA with 1,126 strikeouts – but 628 walks – in 1,1112/3 innings.
Perez’s last two seasons with the Mets were disastrous. He failed to pitch 70 innings in either season, and combined to walk 100 batters in 1122/3 innings.
His best season with the Mets was 2007 when he went 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA with 174 strikeouts in 177 innings.
DARVISH, TEXAS AGREE
The Texas Rangers beat the deadline and reached an agreement with Japanese pitcher Yu Darvish.
They agreed on a six-year, $60 million contract. In addition, the Rangers will pay a posting fee of $51,703,411 (the “34” and “11” represent president Nolan Ryan and Darvish’s jersey numbers) to Darvish’s old team, the Hokkaido Nippon Ham Fighters of Japan’s Pacific League.
The deal came at the end of a 30-day negotiating window. Darvish had a 93-38 record with a 1.99 ERA over the past seven seasons in Japan. The 6-foot-5 right-hander was a two-time Pacific League MVP and a five-time All-Star.
SHORT HOPS
Former Mariners left-hander Jamie Moyer, 49, agreed to terms on a minor league contract with an invite to the Colorado Rockies’ spring training, pending a physical. … Outfielder Jack Cust has agreed to a $600,000, one-year contract with the Houston Astros. Cust hit .213 with three homers and 23 RBI in 67 games for the Mariners, who released him on Aug. 4. … Former umpire Marty Springstead died. He was 74.
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