The Red Sox have reportedly signed former Cincinnati Reds infielder Jose Peraza to a one-year, $3 million deal laden with incentives, according to MLB Network’s Jon Heyman.
This marks their first free-agent signing under chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom.
Peraza, 25, was non-tendered by Cincinnati earlier this month after spending the last four years patrolling the Reds’ infield and outfield.
In 141 games this past season, the Venezuela native slashed .239/.285/.346 with six home runs and 33 RBI while playing second and third base, shortstop, and left and center field.
That underwhelming campaign came right after Peraza had a career year in 2018, and the Reds ultimately did not feel that the infielder was worth the $3.6 million he was projected to earn in arbitration next year.
Originally an international signee of the Atlanta Braves back in 2011, Peraza’s major-league career to this point has been fairly inconsistent. Since he became an everyday player for Cincinnati at the start of the 2017 season, Peraza’s fWAR totals go as follows:
2017: -0.3
2018: 2.6
2019: -0.6
That obviously does not tell the whole story, but it is something worth noting nonetheless.
With the Red Sox’ 40-man roster increasing to 38 players now with the additions of Jonathan Arauz and Peraza on Thursday, there is sure to be a healthy competition for an Opening Day roster spot among names such as those two, as well as C.J. Chatham, Michael Chavis, Marco Hernandez, and Tzu-Wei Lin come the spring.
As noted by MassLive.com’s Chris Cotillo, despite only inking a one-year pact with Boston, Peraza will be under team control for the next three years due to the arbitration process.
Also, with all those infielders I mentioned above, it’s hard to imagine the Red Sox would entertain a reunion with free agent Brock Holt at this point in time.
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