Does Most Tenured Texas Rangers Player Martin Perez Have Future With Club?

The most tenured Texas Rangers player, Martin Perez, is a free agent after a season in which he started solidly as a starter but was relegated to the bullpen after a rough July.

No Texas Rangers player has more tenure with the team than free-agent pitcher Martin Perez.

The left-handed starter has spent nine of his 12 MLB seasons with the Rangers, including the past two. He was an All-Star in 2022 and started solidly in 2023.

In his first 16 stars, Perez was 7-2 with a slightly elevated 4.28 ERA. In that opening three-month stretch, he was at times inconsistent, allowing 13 home runs while striking out 60 and walking 30, and allowing 43 runs. In his four starts in July, those number ballooned to 17 earned runs on 26 hits, including five homers, and 11 walks, compared to nine strikeouts in 18 innings. They were the last starts Perez made before being relegated to the bullpen for the remainder of the regular season and postseason.

Martin Perez remains an option for the Rangers in free agency, despite an uneven 2023 season / © Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

In 15 appearances out of the bullpen during the final two months of the regular season, Perez improved somewhat. In 33 1/3 innings, he had a 2.70 ERA with 24 strikeouts and eight walks and was 2-0 with two holds. He was especially valuable in a long-relief role in which he threw three or more innings four times among his final 15 appearances.

Perez, however, turns 33 on April 4 and may find himself left out of the starting rotation if the Rangers are able to add another starter through free agency or a trade this winter. When asked specifically about Perez and whether the club hoped to re-sign him, general manager Chris Young declined to get specific.

"We’ve touched base with all of the free agents with last year’s team, and we’ll remain engaged and open-minded," Young said. "Again, the timing of those conversations, if and when that materializes, I can’t predict."

Besides some of the bullpen arms who have already signed free-agent deals elsewhere, such as Will Smith and Chris Stratton, Young says the club remains engaged with each of the remaining free agents from the 2023 World Series roster.

"We have not eliminated anybody. We’d love to bring all of them back. I don't see that as realistic, and many of them are going to have opportunities that are more lucrative elsewhere," he said. "However, we haven’t closed the door on anybody at this point."

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