Texas Rangers Sign Martin Perez to 4-Year Deal

The Texas Rangers solidified another slot in their starting rotation on Thursday, inking 22-year-old Martin Perez to a four-year deal.

According to ESPN's Richard Durrett, the contract guarantees Perez $12.5 million and includes club options for 2018, 2019 and 2020.

Perez started 20 games for the Rangers in 2013 and went 10-6. He made his first start on Memorial Day against the Diamondbacks, giving up four runs on nine hits in the loss. It was his first start with the Rangers since being hit with a line drive that broke his forearm in Spring Training. 

He was given the ball on Sept. 30 when he lost game No. 163 to the Tampa Bay Rays, which resulted in Texas missing the playoffs for the first time in four years.

The young left-hander struck out 84 in 124.1 innings last season, posting a 3.62 ERA. He won six starts in a row from August to September, including all five decisions in August.

The Rangers now have four of five spots in the rotation locked up with Yu Darvish at the front, followed most likely by Derek Holland, Perez and Matt Harrison. With three lefties in the rotation already, is it safe to assume that Texas is no longer looking to trade for David Price?

Maybe the Rangers are looking to strike twice overseas and win the negotiating rights to Masahiro Tanaka. Texas was successful two seasons ago after a $51.7 million posting fee led them to signing Darvish.