The Pittsburgh Pirates have re-signed right-handed pitcher Clario Perez. He became a minor league free agent this off-season after spending the first seven years of his pro career in the Pirates’ system. Despite the length of his career, Perez just turned 23 at the end of August. He was signed as an amateur free agent out of the Dominican Republic in March of 2009.
When we announced the new minor league free agents earlier this month, I wrote this about Perez:
<<Clario Perez was signed by the Pirates in March 2009 and put in seven seasons in the organization. It looked like he could possibly be on his way to getting added to the 40-man roster after dominating out of the Bradenton bullpen with a fastball that hit 93-94 consistently, but he did not finish well with Altoona. At 23 years old, he is a player they probably would like to re-sign.>>
Perez had a 1.79 ERA in 50.1 innings with Bradenton this season, striking out 45 batters. He also had a .178 BAA and a 1.41 GO/AO ratio. After moving up to Altoona in late June, he had a 3.89 ERA over 34.2 innings. Perez still had a strong .235 BAA, but his strikeouts and ground ball rate both went down. He is young enough and has a good enough arm that he still has potential and isn’t a roster filler.
