Padres Acquire 13-Year Veteran Pitcher from Pirates

Eva Geitheim | Jul 31, 2024

Orlando Ramirez-USA TODAY Sports

The San Diego Padres acquired veteran pitcher Martin Pérez from the Pittsburgh Pirates in exchange for Ronaldys Jimenez prior to the MLB trade deadline.

The Pirates will pay half of Pérez's remaining salary, about $1.3 million, per Dejan Kovacevic.

Exclusive: The #Pirates are paying half of Martin Pérez's remaining prorated salary, a figure of roughly $1.3 million, because they legit coveted this 18-year-old lefty they picked up from the Padres. Scouts are giddy.

I've got a full column coming on all this, by the way.

— Dejan Kovacevic (@Dejan_Kovacevic) July 31, 2024

The move capped off a busy trade deadline for the Padres, who also traded for Tanner Scott and Bryan Hoeing in exchange for left-hander Robby Snelling, right-hander Adam Mazur, and infielders Graham Pauley and Jay Beshears on Tuesday.

The 33-year-old left-hander joins the Padres during his 13th MLB season. The former undrafted free agent spent most of his career with the Texas Rangers, making his debut in 2012. He played for the Rangers through 2018, before going on to play for the Minnesota Twins, Boston Red Sox, returning to the Rangers, and then the Pirates.

Pérez joins San Diego after half a season with the Pirates, where he started 16 games this season and posted a 2-5 record with a 5.20 ERA and 63 strikeouts. Pérez has been inconsistent so far this season. He began the year strong with a 2.86 ERA through April, but his ERA has dramatically gone up since. He is coming off a game in which he allowed zero earned runs, but gave up at least five earned runs the two games before.

Still, the presence of Pérez is important for a Padres team that is still missing their top two starters in Joe Musgrove and Yu Darvish. Both pitchers have been out since early June. Musgrove recently pitched a two-inning simulation game and the team is still hopeful Darvish will return.