ARLINGTON, Texas _ On the eve of their 2017 season, the Indians announced that they have signed catcher Roberto Perez to a four-year contract extension.
The deal runs through the 2020 season and includes club options for the 2021 and 2022 seasons. Per MLB.com, the extension is worth $9 million guaranteed with options valued at $5.5 million and $7 million, respectively.
"I'm very grateful," Perez said. "I'm very happy, too. I would like to thank them for the opportunity and having trust in myself. I'm just very happy that we came to an agreement. I'm happy to be here."
Perez, 28, figures to start the year as the No. 2 catcher behind Yan Gomes, though he'll likely receive more starts than the typical backup, especially early on. Perez last season missed significant time with a broken thumb but was the primary catcher who handled Indians' pitching staff through their postseason run. He also slugged two home runs in Game 1 of the World Series in perhaps the best offensive game of his career.
"He grew right in front of our eyes," Francona said of Perez's postseason. "When Gomer got hurt (during the regular season), he wasn't ready to come back. He was still rehabbing a bit, the thumb. It took him a while to catch his treading. But man once he did, and we got into the playoffs, he threw the ball well, he caught the ball well, he ran the game really well, followed the game plan really well. I think he grew up right in front of our own eyes."
Gomes is signed through 2019 with club options for 2020 and 2021, giving the Indians financial flexibility with their catchers. For the foreseeable future, the two will continue to share the catching duties.
"It's fun. Like I always tell Yan, it's kind of like a friendly competition," Perez said. "The good part is we have a great relationship. We try to help each other out as much as we can. We just want to go out and help the team win in any way we can and control the pitching staff. That's our priority. Whether he's playing or I'm playing, we're going to be back there and we're going to support each other."
The Indians also recently signed Jose Ramirez to a five-year, $26 million extension that includes two club options.
The Perez extension is another deal that falls in line with what has become the Indians' signature type of extension, that being one early in a player's service time that includes club options. The Indians take on additional risk should that player falter or become seriously injured, while that risk is offset by the club being able to cap how much it spends while also having control via the club options.
"It's an approach that we've had for quite a number of years," said Indians president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti following the Ramirez extension. "What we've tried to do is frame alternatives for players and give them an option too. In some cases, players have chosen to proceed year-to-year and in other cases they have elected to pursue contracts. What we try to do is to frame alternatives for players to choose. Because it's a question of how do we share risk? What we try to do is to come with what type of shared risk makes sense for the team and the player. When there's alignment on that, that's when we can reach agreements like this."
