The Atlanta Braves added former All-Star left-hander Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez to a minor-league contract that includes a non-roster invitation to Spring Training, a move that gives the club low-cost depth while the veteran attempts to show he has recovered from an injury-plagued 2025.<\/p>\n
According to MLB.com, the agreement lets P\u00e9rez come to camp aiming to prove he is healthy and capable of filling a spot on the Braves\u2019 pitching staff. MLB.com also noted the club had not confirmed the deal at the time of its report, while other outlets presented the signing as announced. ClutchPoints framed the move as a low-risk evaluation tool that does not use a 40-man roster spot and gives Atlanta optionality.<\/p>\n
P\u00e9rez, entering what MLB.com framed as his 15th major league season, arrives with a track record that includes a breakout 2022 with the Texas Rangers when he posted a 2.89 ERA in 196 1\/3 innings, struck out 169 batters and recorded a 5.1 bWAR en route to his first All-Star nod. Recent seasons have been uneven: MLB.com lists a 4.45 ERA in 2023 and a combined 4.53 ERA in 2024 between Pittsburgh and San Diego. He has shown signs of stabilization; the left-hander allowed a 3.50 ERA in 108 innings across 21 games since the 2024 trade deadline, and he lowered his ERA by nearly a full run in 2025 with the Chicago White Sox, finishing with a 3.54 ERA, 44 strikeouts and 56 innings pitched.<\/p>\n
Health was the primary limiting factor last year. MLB.com reported elbow and shoulder issues limited P\u00e9rez to just 11 appearances, 10 of them starts, for Chicago in 2025, while social posts summarized that an elbow problem cost him much of the first four months and a shoulder issue shut him down in September. SportsTalkATL quoted a tweet noting P\u00e9rez\u2019s career 4.41 ERA over 14 seasons and reminding readers he was an All-Star in 2022; that account also lists his age as 35 in April, while MLB.com described him as a 34-year-old who will turn 35 early in the season.<\/p>\n
For the Braves, P\u00e9rez is a candidate for the back end of the rotation or a long-relief swing role. MLB.com positioned him alongside Hurston Waldrep, Bryce Elder and Joey Wentz as potential fifth-starter candidates, while ClutchPoints added Grant Holmes to the list of internal competition. ClutchPoints summed the organizational logic: \u201cThe deal allows the club to evaluate Perez without using a 40-man roster spot while giving the veteran a chance to compete for a role,\u201d and emphasized the appeal of experience and optionality, noting P\u00e9rez\u2019s more-than-1,600 career innings and familiarity with both leagues.<\/p>\n
Business-wise, the signing is emblematic of an industry trend: teams preserve roster flexibility by signing experienced arms to non-roster deals rather than committing 40-man space or guaranteed salary. MLB.com also noted there is no draft-pick compensation tied to P\u00e9rez because he received a qualifying offer after the 2022 season, removing a barrier that might have chilled interest.<\/p>\n
What this means for fans: P\u00e9rez\u2019s arrival makes Spring Training more competitive and gives Atlanta inexpensive insurance behind its young starters. If P\u00e9rez stays healthy and reclaims elements of his 2022 form, he could push for a rotation spot and help lengthen outings from the left side. If not, he strengthens Triple-A depth and preserves roster maneuverability for the regular season. The next steps are simple and decisive: watch camp health reports, monitor innings in Grapefruit League outings, and see whether the Braves formalize the signing on their official channels.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Atlanta Braves added former All-Star left-hander Mart\u00edn P\u00e9rez to a minor-league contract that includes a non-roster invitation…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":551944,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2394],"tags":[4351,191,46,4166,5,192,30675,5200,4,72686,3185,11402],"class_list":["post-551943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-atlanta-braves","tag-add","tag-atlanta","tag-atlanta-braves","tag-atlantabraves","tag-baseball","tag-braves","tag-current-events","tag-former","tag-mlb","tag-news-analysis","tag-sign","tag-trades"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=551943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/551943\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/551944"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=551943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=551943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/mlb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=551943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}