Report: SF Giants beat out Red Sox to sign Gold Glove winning catcher Roberto Pérez

The SF Giants have reportedly further solidified their catching depth by agreeing to a deal with former Gold Glove winner Roberto Pérez.

Marc Delucchi | Jan 29, 2023

Report: SF Giants beat out Red Sox to sign Gold Glove winning catcher Roberto Pérez /

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San Francisco Giants

The SF Giants have agreed to a contract with former Pittsburgh Pirates and Cleveland Guardians catcher Roberto Pérez, according to a report by Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com. Per Cotillo, the Boston Red Sox made an aggressive pursuit of Pérez but lost out to San Francisco.

Pittsburgh Pirates catcher Roberto Pérez (55) runs the bases. (2022) / Katie Stratman-USA TODAY Sports

A nine-year MLB veteran, Pérez has a reputation as an excellent defensive catcher and won back-to-back Gold Gloves in 2019 and 2020 with the Cleveland Guardians, the lone seasons in his career where he has appeared in at least half of his team's games. A right-handed hitter, Pérez has always been limited offensively and is a career .207/.298/.360 hitter.

Roberto Pérez to Giants, source says.
— Chris Cotillo (@ChrisCotillo) January 29, 2023

A native of Puerto Rico, Pérez was drafted by the Guardians in the 33rd round of the 2008 draft and slowly climbed the minor-league ranks, making his big-league debut in 2014. Pérez's defensive acumen immediately solidified himself as Cleveland's backup catcher, a position he held until 2019, when he became manager Terry Francona's primary option.

Pérez had a career year in 2019, hitting 24 home runs with a .239/.321/.452 triple-slash in 119 games. However, ever since, Pérez has regressed into an abysmal producer at the plate. He hit .156/.253/.277 in 76 games from 2020-21 before signing a one-year deal with the Pirates last offseason.

In his lone season in Pittsburgh, Pérez showed some promise at the plate, hitting .233/.333/.367 in 69 plate appearances before suffering a season-ending hamstring injury. Despite his improved line, however, Pérez struck out in 36.2% of his trips to the plate, suggesting he probably benefitted from good batted-ball luck.

Roberto Pérez recently turned 34 years old and will likely join Blake Sabol and Austin Wynns in a preseason competition to be the SF Giants backup catcher behind Joey Bart. Pérez is easily the most proven option of the group, but Wynns had his moments as Bart's backup at the end of last season, and Sabol is an intriguing prospect with some intriguing offensive upside.

Published Jan 29, 2023

MARC DELUCCHI

Marc Delucchi (he/they/she) serves as the Managing Editor at Giants Baseball Insider, leading their SF Giants coverage. As a freelance journalist, he has previously covered the San Francisco Giants at Around the Foghorn and McCovey Chronicles. He also currently contributes to Niners Nation, Golden State of Mind, and Baseball Prospectus. He has previously been featured in several other publications, including SFGate, ProFootballRumors, Niners Wire, GrandStand Central, Call to the Pen, and Just Baseball. Over his journalistic career, Marc has conducted investigations into how one prep baseball player lost a college opportunity during the pandemic (Baseball Prospectus) and the rampant mistreatment of players at the University of Hawaii football program under former head coach Todd Graham (SFGate). He has also broken dozens of news stories around professional baseball, primarily around the SF Giants organization, including the draft signing of Kyle Harrison, injuries and promotions to top prospects like Heliot Ramos, and trade details in the Kris Bryant deal. Marc received a Bachelor's degree from Kenyon College with a major in economics and a minor in Spanish. During his time in college, he conducted a summer research project attempting to predict the future minor-league performance of NCAA hitters, worked as a data analyst for the school's Women's basketball team, and worked as a play-by-play announcer/color commentator for the basketball, baseball, softball, and soccer teams. He also worked as an amateur baseball scout with the Collegiate Baseball Scouting Network (later renamed Evolution Metrix), scouting high school and college players for three draft cycles. For tips and inquiries, feel free to reach out to Marc directly on Twitter or via email (delucchimarc@gmail.com).