Indians: Designating Oliver Perez for assignment was a mistake

The Indians have designated pitcher Oliver Perez for assignment.

The Indians are one of the best teams to cover in baseball. They’re always fun, have great prospects to look forward to, and whether they’re winning or losing, always provide great talking points. The other reason, however, that the Indians are such a joy to cover is that, at least over the last seven or eight years, have largely been a well-run, sensible organization. Yes, they have their limitations, but they don’t make boneheaded moves; just unpopular ones. Yet, designating Oliver Perez for assignment is a head-scratcher.

While Perez only pitched a handful of innings in 2021 so far, he was very effective in those outings.

The Tribe opted to part ways with the left-handed reliever on Wednesday afternoon because, as manager Terry Francona put it, the team just didn’t know how to use him, telling the media;

"I told him last night, I said, ‘Man, I haven’t figured it out.’ When you look at teams coming up, Chicago, Kansas City, we’re not seeing opportunities where we can leverage him like we hoped."

Letting Oliver Perez was a bad move by the Indians

The Indians have no shortage of great pitching. It’s their key to success, mostly. While Perez was the eldest member of the pitching staff, he was a very effective one at that. For his career in Cleveland, he had a 2.57 ERA and a 10.4 K/9 ratio. He was very effective despite being 36.

The move coincided with Nick Wittgren’s return to the pen, keeping the number of relievers at nine. A number that Francona won’t stay that high for much longer.

Perez brought a stable role with the Tribe, one that had experience and leadership and something the bullpen largely lacks. Perez, while not the hurler he was 15 years ago in Pittsburgh, was still good at getting guys out. A skill Tribe pitchers need to know.

Considering the struggles of some pitchers, and the fact that the Indians will be calling up one, if not two batters at some point before June, keeping a reliable arm like Perez just made good sense.