Perez was released by the Diamondbacks on Thursday.
Perez went unclaimed on waivers after being designated for assignment by Arizona on Monday, and he'll now become a free agent. The 40-year-old made seven appearances for the Diamondbacks this year and allowed seven runs in four innings.
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Diamondbacks' Oliver Perez: DFA'd by Arizona
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Perez was designated for assignment by the Diamondbacks on Monday.
Perez made Arizona's Opening Day roster after signing as a non-roster invitee in March, but the club has seen enough after he surrendered seven earned runs over four innings to begin the year. The 40-year-old lefty could head to Triple-A Reno if he passes through waivers unclaimed or could opt for free agency.
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Diamondbacks' Oliver Perez: Secures Opening Day spot
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The Diamondbacks selected Perez's contract from Double-A Amarillo on Wednesday.
Perez will begin preparing for his 20th season in the majors after earning a spot in Arizona's bullpen during spring training. The Diamondbacks opened up room for him on the 40-man roster and 28-man active roster by designating Caleb Baragar for assignment Tuesday. Perez is expected to serve primarily as a lefty specialist, a role that's unlikely to present him with many save chances.
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Diamondbacks' Oliver Perez: Joins Arizona for camp
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Perez signed with the Diamondbacks as a non-roster invitee Monday, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.
The 40-year-old lefty is looking to spend his 20th career season in the majors. He threw just 3.2 scoreless innings for Cleveland last season before heading to Mexico to pitch for Toros de Tijuanam where he posted a 38.0 percent strikeout rate and a 2.63 ERA in 24 innings of work. He should have a shot to carve out a role in the Arizona bullpen, though it's unlikely to be a high-leverage one.
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Oliver Perez: Plans to retire
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Perez will retire from baseball after finishing out the 2022 season with Toros de Tijuana of the Mexican League.
Perez spent the last four seasons of his MLB career with Cleveland, making only five appearances in 2021 and giving up no earned runs before being released in May. The 40-year-old will walk away from the game with a career 4.34 ERA and a 1.43 WHIP across 1,461.2 frames in the majors.
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Indians' Oliver Perez: Dropped from 40-man roster
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Cleveland designated Perez for assignment Wednesday, Tom Withers of the Associated Press reports.
Perez will cede his spot on the 26-man active roster to fellow reliever Nick Wittgren (personal), who was reinstated from the paternity list in a corresponding move. The 39-year-old Perez has been a mainstay in the Cleveland bullpen over the past three-plus seasons, producing a 2.57 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.3 K/9 while racking up 40 holds and two saves across 143 appearances. According to Withers, manager Terry Francona said he was struggling to find the right spots to use the left-handed Perez, a likely consequence of MLB instituting the three-batter minimum rule in 2020. With fewer teams employing lefty specialists these days, Perez may struggle to quickly find another big-league opportunity.
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Indians' Oliver Perez: Charged with loss
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Perez (0-1) allowed an unearned run on a hit and a walk over one-third of an inning in Saturday's extra-inning loss to the Reds.
Perez was able to get Tyler Naquin to fly out, but Tyler Stephenson tagged an RBI single to score initial runner Eugenio Suarez for the winning run. The 39-year-old Perez has only allowed the one unearned run as well as two hits and a walk across 2.2 innings so far. The southpaw will likely see mostly low-leverage work in 2021 -- Emmanuel Clase, James Karinchak and Nick Wittgren all pitched earlier in Saturday's contest, leaving Perez to get the ball in the 10th inning.
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Indians' Oliver Perez: Makes season debut
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Perez pitched a scoreless one-third of an inning in Saturday's 11-3 win over the Tigers.
Perez relieved starter Aaron Civale with two outs in the eighth inning. Victor Reyes got aboard with an error, but Perez got Akil Baddoo to fly out to end the inning. The 39-year-old Perez pitched 18 innings in 21 appearances last year, posting a 2.00 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 14:6 K:BB. He had three holds and one save. The southpaw isn't in Cleveland's closer conversation in 2021.
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Indians' Oliver Perez: Returns to Cleveland
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Perez signed a deal to return to Cleveland for a fourth season Thursday, Jon Heyman of MLB Network reports.
The 39-year-old lefty has moved around quite a bit over his 18-year career, but he's finally found a bit of stability. He owns a 2.67 ERA thus far in Cleveland, including a 2.00 mark in 18 innings last season. His strikeout rate fell from 27.7 percent to 19.4 percent last year, however, while his fastball velocity dipped from 91.7 to 89.9 mph, so he may not have much time left as a useful reliever.
Perez struck out one in two-thirds of an inning without allowing a baserunner to earn the save in Sunday's 5-4 extra-inning win over the White Sox.
Regular closer Brad Hand allowed a run to score, cutting Cleveland's lead to one, and he put the tying run in scoring position before a rain delay. Perez took over after the delay, and he got Leury Garcia to pop out before whiffing Yoan Moncada to secure the save, Perez's first of the year. The 38-year-old Perez has been lights-out in 2020, with just one hit and no walks allowed to go with five strikeouts over 4.2 scoreless innings.
Perez's 2020 team option vested to $3 million after he made his 60th appearance of the season in Sunday's 10-1 win over the Phillies.
The Tribe's decision to use Perez in a rather non-competitive game with contract incentives at stake adds support to the notion that the organization views the veteran lefty as a key bullpen piece heading into next season. Even at 38 years old, Perez has proven reliable against same-handed hitters, holding lefties to a meager .209/.277/.337 slash line this season.
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Indians' Oliver Perez: Posts one-out save
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Perez earned the final out during the ninth to record his first save of the season in a 7-5 victory against the Twins on Sunday.
One day after a doubleheader, the Indians called upon Perez to face the left-handed hitting Eddie Rosario, who already had two homers in the game, with two outs in the ninth, and Perez needed just two pitches to get Rosario to pop out in foul ground. Perez has 21 holds this season but this save opportunity was his first of the year, and it likely only came because of all the work the bullpen received Saturday. He is 2-3 with a 3.49 ERA, 1.22 WHIP and 45 strikeouts in 38.2 innings across 62 appearances.
