The Washington Nationals continue to search for bargain-basement pitching, and have really dug to the bottom of the barrel with this pickup. According to a report by Tim Brown of Yahoo! Sports, the team has signed Oliver Perez to a minor-league contract.
The minor-league contract means Perez's former team, the New York Mets, will pick up much of the cost, meaning the Nationals essentially get Perez for free. Still, the way Perez left the Mets raises questions about why any team will want him at all. For one, Perez has posted ERAs of 6.82 and 6.8 over the past two years. For another, he refused two minor-league assignments last season when the Mets wanted to work on his pitching, instead forcing the team to release him this week.
The upside to Perez may be that he is a Scott Boras client. As Adam Kilgore of the Washington Post notes, Perez becomes the 11th Boras client on the Nationals' roster. Otherwise, it's tough to see the upside of a move like this, even if it's for very little money.