SF Giants: Catcher Roberto Pérez makes Opening Day roster
SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — Roberto Pérez sported a big grin as he packed up his black-and-orange bag full of catcher’s equipment Saturday afternoon. The 34-year-old backstop, in camp on a minor-league deal, was informed that morning that he had made the club.
The selection of Pérez likely means fellow non-roster catcher Austin Wynns or third-year catcher Joey Bart will be the odd man out in the four-way competition. The Giants have strongly indicated they plan to enter the season with three catchers, with Rule 5 pick Blake Sabol serving in a hybrid outfield role in addition to third-string catching duties.
“He showed us he was ready to play on a regular basis, got to know a lot of the pitchers on our staff over the last couple weeks, was aggressive in the drills we asked him to be aggressive in and show us he was capable of handling pushing himself,” manager Gabe Kapler said, “and he did those things.”
Pérez would have been able to become a free agent on Monday if he hadn’t been added to the Giants’ roster by then. By securing a spot on the 26-man, Pérez will earn a $2.5 million salary with an additional $1.5 million in possible incentives. His status as a non-roster invitee means that the Giants will need to add him to their 40-man roster, but that shouldn’t be an issue, as three spots are expected to open up when Luis González, Luke Jackson and Thomas Szapucki are placed on the 60-day injured list.
The Monday deadline sped up a decision process that is still playing out with the other three catchers.
Kapler said that while he informed Pérez Saturday morning that he had made the team, he had yet to have conversations with Wynns or Bart. All four are expected to accompany the team to San Francisco for its two Bay Bridge exhibitions Sunday and Monday.
“I feel like any of those catchers can step in and comfortably handle a solid workload,” Kapler said.
Since signing a minor-league deal with San Francisco about two weeks before pitchers and catchers, Pérez has separated himself in the competition with his defensive acumen and extensive track record behind the plate. He earned rave reviews from the pitching staff, with Alex Cobb calling him a “magician” when it came to his pitch framing.
Pérez earned Gold Gloves with Cleveland in 2019 and 2020 and also turned in his best offensive season in 2019, hitting 24 home runs with a .239/.321/.452 slash line in 449 plate appearances. However in nine major-league seasons, 2019 and the pandemic-shortened 2020 season were also Pérez’s only ones playing in at least half his team’s games.
That was the threshold set by Giants president Farhan Zaidi on Friday when discussing what San Francisco would need from Pérez if they opted to put him on the roster. He had season-ending surgery on his hamstring in 2022 and missed significant time in 2021 with a fractured finger that also required surgery and inflammation in his throwing shoulder.
“He’s felt really good and he’s ready to catch more, so that part of the evaluation has been very positive,” Zaidi said. “That’s kind of the final hurdle in his position is feeling like he can handle the workload that we need of him to be on the team. … It probably needs to be somebody that we feel can be good to catch at least half the time. We want to feel good that he can handle that type of workload.”
While Kapler was not yet ready to specify the exact share of the workload behind the plate will be expected of Pérez, the Giants clearly saw enough this spring to place him on the roster, a decision that did have financial implications. Wynns, Bart and Sabol will all earn the major-league minimum.