Reds Acquire Hector Perez From Blue Jays (www.baseball-reference.com)

The Reds have acquired right-hander

from the Blue Jays for a player to be named later or cash, Ben Nicholson-Smith of Sportsnet was among those to report. This move clears a 40-man roster spot for the Blue Jays, who should formally announce outfielder George Springer’s signing soon.

Perez, an international signing from the Dominican Republic, began his professional career as an Astro in 2015, but they traded him to Toronto three years later in a deal centering on veteran relievers Roberto Osuna and Ken Giles. Perez wound up spending most of his Blue Jays tenure in Double-A ball, where he has logged a 4.34 ERA with 167 strikeouts against 91 walks in 163 2/3 innings. He made a brief major league debut last year with a 1 2/3-inning appearance.

FanGraphs’ Eric Longenhagen ranked the 24-year-old Perez 37th in the Jays’ system earlier this week, writing that he “continues to project in relief because of control issues.” Perez can hit 98 mph as a reliever, but despite his velocity and better-than-average spin rate, Longenhagen notes that he had difficulty generating swings and misses on the pitch in 2019.