Bucs add catcher P¨¦rez on 1-year deal

After the Pirates traded their 2021 starting catcher, Jacob Stallings, on Monday, they sat at zero catchers on their 40-man roster. Therefore, it made sense they¡¯d be in on the free-agent catching market to fill the void.

The club announced it signed Roberto P¨¦rez to a one-year contract on Wednesday. Terms were not announced, but a source told MLB.com it's worth $5 million.

¡°In Roberto, we are adding an elite defender who is able to effectively handle our pitching staff and further aid in its development,¡± said general manager Ben Cherington. ¡°He is known to be a great teammate and fierce competitor, and we look forward to having him in a Pirates uniform.¡±

P¨¦rez is not very different from the profile of his predecessor in Pittsburgh. Though Stallings (.701 career OPS) is not known for offensive prowess, P¨¦rez (.657) is a downgrade with the bat on paper. However, the incoming catcher¡¯s peak in 2019 was higher than any produced by Stallings, as P¨¦rez hit 24 home runs in 119 games.

P¨¦rez also won the American League Gold Glove Award at catcher in 2019 and ¡®20. His career 7.8 defensive WAR per Baseball Reference is more than double his offensive WAR (2.9). Alongside good receiving, his arm is strong; P¨¦rez¡¯s caught-stealing rate of 71% in the shortened ¡®20 season was the best among qualified catchers in the Majors.

¡°He's his own player,¡± Cherington said. ¡°He's a unique personality, his own personality, but certainly some of the things he does well are similar to what Stalls did well.¡±

Part of the interest in P¨¦rez was also based on the staff he worked with in Cleveland, which has included AL Cy Young Award winners like Corey Kluber and Shane Bieber.

¡°He¡¯s coming from an organization that has done a great job and one that we admire, in terms of its pitching development and pitching infrastructure,¡± Cherington said. ¡°He's been a part of that for a long time. Certainly caught some great pitchers there. We like a lot about that part of his game.¡±

Though P¨¦rez seems to slot into the starting role at catcher for the Pirates, there¡¯s still uncertainty about who will fill the second spot. Michael Perez was designated for assignment to clear space ahead of Rule 5 Draft protections, but he remains in the organization after hitting .143 with a .511 OPS in 70 games last season.

Jamie Ritchie, a Minor League signing in November, is also in the mix for the backup job, per Cherington. Ritchie, 28, has no Major League experience, but he¡¯s played in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League the past three seasons while producing an .835 OPS with a .402 on-base percentage in 183 games at that level.

But nothing is settled at the position just yet.

¡°We'll keep looking," Cherington said. ¡°It¡¯s Dec. 1. ¡­ Typically, Dec. 1 is still pretty, pretty early in the offseason. So we'll keep looking at that position and see if we can strengthen it before Spring Training.¡±