Martin Perez on Rangers Return: 'I Want To Be a Part of History'

Martin Perez was the Rangers' best pitcher in 2022 and he returns in 2023.

Martín Pérez was hoping for a long-term deal. He didn’t get it. He hopes to get one after the 2023 season. For now, he’s betting on himself and hoping to help the Texas Rangers turn things around.

“I want to be a part of history,” Pérez said on Wednesday in his first meeting with Dallas-Fort Worth media after returning to the Rangers.

Pérez accepted the Rangers’ qualifying offer of $19.65 million before Wednesday’s deadline. In fact, he said he told the Rangers his intention of returning a few days before the deadline, but after the Rangers had executed a trade to bring in veteran starter Jake Odorizzi from Atlanta.

The Rangers are now turning their attention to signing at least one more veteran starter, likely at the high end of the free-agent market.

The only team rumored to be courting Pérez was the Los Angeles Angels, who instead signed Dodgers pitcher Tyler Anderson to a three-year, $39 million deal. That deal will net Anderson $13 million per year.

Pérez said that Anderson’s deal had nothing to do with his return to Texas. But he firmly believes a longer contract is in his future.

“I believe in myself, so I know what I have to do now,” Pérez said. “But I feel 100 percent that next year is going to be a better year because I know how to pitch now.”

Pérez is coming off the best season of his career, as he went 12-8 with a 2.89 ERA, the latter among the best in the American League. He threw 196 1/3 innings, just two innings off his career high. He had a career-high 169 strikeouts. He also made the All-Star team for the first time.

He did all of that on a one-year, $4 million salary, easily the Rangers’ best bargain of 2022. Pérez gets a $15 million raise and the qualifying offer amount to his highest salary in a single year.

Pérez said several times last season that he wanted to return. The Rangers signaled the same desire. In the end, home — as Pérez called it on Wednesday — won out, as he was one of just two players to accept his team’s qualifying offer. San Francisco outfielder Joc Pederson was the other.

“I feel comfortable now,” Pérez said. “That’s why I decided to come back and pitch for the Rangers.

As for the offseason, Pérez, like everyone else, is waiting for the Rangers to hire a pitching coach. He’ll be splitting his time between Arlington and Miami, where some of his family live, as he prepares for spring training. He also said he intends to make himself available to Venezuela for the 2023 World Baseball Classic, which takes place during spring training.

Right now, Pérez just wants to improve and be better for 2023. He said he believes it “100 percent.”

“Because if you don’t feel that way, maybe I don’t take the qualifying offer,” Pérez said. “I believe in my stuff. I believe in myself and I know it’s going to get better.”

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You can find Matthew Postins on Twitter @PostinsPostcard

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