The Pirates announced this afternoon that catcher Michael Pérez has cleared waivers and been assigned outright to Triple-A Indianapolis (via Rob Biertempfel of the Athletic). He’ll have the right to refuse that assignment in favor of minor league free agency.
The Bucs designated Pérez for assignment last week in order to open 40-man roster space for prospects whom they didn’t want to leave available in the Rule 5 draft. That could end his Pittsburgh tenure after just one season, as Pérez joined the organization after the 2020 campaign via waiver claim from the Rays. The 29-year-old tallied 231 plate appearances as Jacob Stallings’ primary back-up, hitting just .143/.221/.290 with seven home runs.
Pérez hasn’t hit much over his four-season MLB career, owning just a .181/.253/.302 cumulative line. He’s rated as a slightly below-average pitch framer, per Statcast, but his career 26.8% caught stealing rate is almost three percentage points higher than this year’s league average mark.