The Texas Rangers have signed LHP Martin Perez to a four-year deal, through 2017, with club options through 2020.
Per team policy, financial terms were not revealed. However, the Associated Press is reporting the four year deal is worth $12.5 million.
Perez, now 22, signed with the Rangers when he was just 16 and living in his home of Venezuela. In the 2013 season, he became the first Texas rookie to win six straight starts and went nearly two months between losses, the AP reported.
As is stands today, the Rangers now have four starting pitchers locked in for the next four seasons: Yu Darvish, Matt Harrison, Derek Holland and Perez.
Here is more from the team on Thursday's announcement:
Perez, 22, was announced on Monday as the Texas Rangers 2013 Rookie of the Year in voting conducted by the Dallas-Fort Worth Chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He went 10-6 with a 3.62 ERA (50 ER/124.1 IP) in 20 games/starts over two stints with the Rangers last season, as he was a permanent fixture in the rotation after being recalled a second time on June 22. His 10 wins ranked T2nd among Rangers, tied Oakland’s Dan Straily for the American League rookie lead, and were the most ever by a left-handed Texas rookie. He was just the 10th rookie ever with a 10-win season for the Rangers, the 8th to do it as a starter. The only Rangers younger than Perez to win 10-or-more games both did it in 1986: Edwin Correa and Bobby Witt. Perez recorded all 10 wins after being recalled on June 22, as that total ranked T4th in the A.L. and T8th in the major leagues among all pitchers.
Perez’s 3.62 ERA was 2nd-lowest among the league’s rookie pitchers with at least 100.0 innings. Perez also ranked third among A.L. rookies in starts and innings. He won six consecutive starts from August 5-September 3, the longest winning streak for a Texas pitcher in 2013. He posted his first career complete game in that span, a win on August 11 at Houston. Perez was called on to start the club’s tiebreaker game on September 30 vs. Tampa Bay, taking the loss. He was vying for a spot in Opening Day rotation in March, but began the year on the Rangers’ 15-day disabled list with a fractured bone in his left forearm.
Originally signed by Texas as a 16-year-old non-drafted free agent in 2007, the Venezuela native has spent his entire career in the Rangers organization. He was the Rangers 2009 Nolan Ryan Minor League Pitcher of the Year and has consistently been rated by Baseball America as one of the organization’s top prospects.
