Oliver Perez

Nationals ink Oliver Perez to two-year deal

Free agent pitcher Oliver Perez has signed a two-year, $7 million contract with the Washington Nationals, MLB.com's Jesse Sanchez reports.

What It Means:

The southpaw will most likely serve exclusively as a specialist for the Nationals, considering his splits versus righties and lefties last year. Against right-handed hitters, he got tagged for a .310/.417/.465 line, but lefties were just .185/.235/.283 against Perez.

Over 41 innings pitched for the Arizona Diamondbacks and Houston Astros last season, Perez posted a 4.17 ERA and 1.32 WHIP with a 27.9 percent strikeout rate and 8.2 percent walk rate, compared to the league averages of 20.4 and 7.7, respectively. This earned him 0.5 Wins Above Replacement and a 0.70 nERD.