White Sox sign left-hander Martín Pérez to one-year, $5 million deal
The White Sox added veteran left-hander Martin Perez to their pitching staff Wednesday, agreeing to a one-year deal, $5 million deal with the 33-year-old, a source confirmed to the Sun-Times.
Perez' deal is pending a physical. He joins right-hander Bryse Wilson, signed to a one-year, $1.05 million deal three weeks ago, as another veteran presence for a young staff on the rebuilding Sox.
The soft-tossing Perez has pitched to a 4.44 ERA over 269 career starts for the Rangers, Twins, Red Sox, Pirates and Padres. Last season, he was 5-6 with a 4.53 ERA in 26 starts for the Pirates and Padres, posting a 3.46 ERA in his final 10 starts for the Padres.
After trading All-Star lefty Garrett Crochet for four Red Sox prospects in December, the Sox' returning leaders in starts are right-handers Jonathan Cannon (21 starts), Davis Martin (10) and Drew Thorpe (nine). Perez has made 22, 32, 20 and 26 starts in his last four seasons.
At the general managers meetings, Sox GM general manager Chris Getz said adding multiple arms to the rotation was "a high priority for us."
"You never feel you have enough depth when it comes to starting pitching," Getz said. "You’re weighing pitchers that have options to help with that depth, whether it be at [Triple-A] Charlotte or perhaps even [Double-A] Birmingham. There are different ways to go about it but we’re certainly looking to add."
In other Sox news, infielder Josh Rojas' one-year, $3.5 million deal was announced, with infielder Jake Amaya designated for assignment to make room on the 40-man roster.
Also, infielder Braden Shewmake was claimed off waivers by the Royals, and outfielder Corey Julks cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Charlotte and will be a non-roster invitee to spring training.
The Sox also announced the promotion of Sergio Santos, manager at Double-A Birmingham last season, to manager at Charlotte. Sox third-base coach Justin Jirschele was manager for most of the 2024 season at Charlotte before his promotion to the big leagues in August.