Perez receives four-year extension Contract worth $9 million guaranteed, $21.5 million if club options picked up By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | April 2nd, 2017 ARLINGTON, Texas -- Roberto Perez is technically a backup catcher, but the Indians do not believe that label does him justice. Cleveland believes it has a pair of catchers capable of starting and values having a tandem that has earned the trust of the team's talented pitching staff. On Sunday, the Indians put their belief in Perez on display, signing the catcher to a four-year, $9 million extension that includes team options for 2021 and '22. Perez's contract has a maximum potential value of $21.5 million if the Tribe picks up the options. "At some point in his career," manager Terry Francona said, "and I don't know when that's going to be, but he'll be an everyday catcher. I think him signing kind of shows the respect that the organization has for him." Perez will begin this season as the backup to Yan Gomes, who signed a six-year extension with the Indians prior to the 2014 campaign. Both Gomes and Perez are locked in through 2019, and Cleveland has club options for its starting catcher for the '20 and '21 seasons. Francona has noted that Perez will play more than a typical backup. "I always tell Yan, it's kind of like a friendly competition," Perez said. "The good part is we have a great relationship. We try to help each other out as much as we can. We just want to go out and help the team win in any way we can and control the pitching staff. That's our priority." Perez's deal comes with a $500,000 signing bonus and will pay him $550,000 in '17, $1.5 million in '18, $2.5 million in '19 and $3.5 million in '20. He can earn $5.5 million in '21 and $7 million in '22, or Cleveland can pay the catcher a $450,000 buyout for either team option. The signing comes after Cleveland inked infielder Jose Ramirez to a five-year extension last week. There are now 10 players on the Indians' roster who have signed extensions with the club. "I'm very grateful," Perez said. "They're doing a pretty good job of locking players up. We're young. We have a great future in this organization. ... Hopefully, we bring a championship to Cleveland this year." Perez, 28, was limited to 61 games last year due to a fractured right thumb, but he assumed the starting role down the stretch with Gomes sidelined, and then started all 15 of Cleveland's postseason games. Over the 2014-16 seasons, Perez has registered 14 Defensive Runs Saved, ranking fifth among all Major League catchers. Perez has thrown out 43 percent of would-be basestealers -- compared to the 30 percent league average -- in his career. Perez also excels at pitch framing. According to Statcast™, on pitches outside the strike zone, Perez received a called strike six percent of the time in '16. Among catchers with at least 7,000 total pitches caught, Perez ranked ninth in that area. The league average was 5.4 percent. In the World Series, Perez launched two home runs in Game 1 against the Cubs. He joined Yogi Berra (1956) and Johnny Bench (1976) as the only catchers in World Series history to enjoy a game with a pair of homers and at least four RBIs. "[When] we got into the playoffs," Francona said, "he threw the ball well, he caught the ball well, he ran the game really well, followed the game plan really well. I think he grew up right in front of our own eyes." Kluber, Tribe begin AL title defense in Texas By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com | March 31st, 2017 When Jonathan Lucroy vetoed a trade to the Indians last summer, the Rangers swooped in and scooped him up. When Edwin Encarnacion hit the open market last winter, his agent, Paul Kinzer, said two of the most aggressive executives trying to nab the designated hitter were Chris Antonetti of the Indians and Jon Daniels of the Rangers. And when Encarnacion wound up with Cleveland, the man he essentially replaced on the Tribe's American League pennant-winning roster, Mike Napoli, wound up with Texas. Clearly, then, the Indians and Rangers share more than their status as reigning division winners ahead of their Opening Day assignment in Arlington (Monday at 7 p.m. ET/6 p.m. CT at Globe Life Park). They value the same talent, too. "They're both winning ballclubs who are willing to take the next step to try to win a championship," Napoli said. "They're both willing to put it all on the line to do it." The first step of '17 finds these two AL powers in a prime pitching matchup: Corey Kluber vs. Yu Darvish. Because of the ultimate outcome that was the Cubs' first World Series title since 1908, it's all too easy to forget what an insane October the soon-to-be-30-year-old Kluber put together to advance the Indians to the Fall Classic. With Carlos Carrasco and Danny Salazar both hurt, Kluber made three starts on short rest and posted a 1.83 ERA in six postseason appearances. This, after a regular season in which Kluber had a league-best 149 ERA+ and 3.26 Fielding Independent Pitching mark. Having won the 2014 AL Cy Young Award and finishing third last year, the only question about Kluber is how he'll hold up after such a weighty workload last year. The Indians, who have a lot riding on Kluber in their bid to end what is now the game's longest championship drought (dating back to 1948), aren't all that worried. "When you are as dedicated as he is, a lot of good things will happen," manager Terry Francona said. "He is one of the best pitchers in the game." So is Darvish, who got the Opening Day nod ahead of Cole Hamels. We know this will be Darvish's first Opening Day start for the Rangers, but will it double as his last? Darvish is a pending free agent, which makes his first full season back from 2015 Tommy John surgery all the more interesting. Darvish had a respectable 3.41 ERA in 17 starts last year, but he battled an early health hiccup with some shoulder soreness three starts after returning from the DL. He's accumulated just 244 2/3 innings since the beginning of '14, so he has a lot riding on a fully -- and fully effective -- '17. "We feel he is in a great place," Texas manager Jeff Banister said. "We feel we have one of the best pitchers in baseball leading off our rotation. He is poised to have a great year." The Rangers are coming off two great years, having won back-to-back AL West titles. And the Indians, who ran away with the AL Central with a 94-win 2016, are healthier now than they were at the time of their run to the World Series. For as much as these clubs have bumped up against each other on the transaction wire in recent months, it only makes sense that they'll meet up at the start of what they both hope is the road back to October. Three things to know about this game • Michael Brantley is the X-factor in the Indians' lineup after playing just 11 games last year because of a pair of shoulder procedures. He made it through spring camp healthy, and his early season performance will be a source of intrigue. When last we saw Brantley for a full season, in 2015, he posted a league-high 45 doubles and an adjusted OPS 29 percent better than league average. • This is Napoli's third stint with the Rangers, having been aboard both for the 2011 run to the World Series and the second-half surge in '15. Still, Napoli has made it no secret that leaving Cleveland, where he bonded with Francona, was hard for him. "It's going to be weird for me," he said of this opening series. "But it is what it is. I'm here now, and it should be fun." • Texas' 36-11 record in one-run games last season was the best of any club in baseball's modern era. Expected regression in that area is the driving force behind some unflattering projections (FanGraphs, for instance, pegs the 2017 Rangers to an 82-80 mark), but it is worth noting that the Rangers' bullpen morphed from weakness in the first half of '16 (5.04) to strength in the second (3.46), so sustained success from that group could put Texas in position to offset some of the expected downturn. Brantley part of Indians' Opening Day roster Veteran ready to go for 2017 season after multiple surgeries By Jordan Bastian / MLB.com | @MLBastian | April 2nd, 2017 ARLINGTON -- It's official: Michael Brantley is on the Indians' Opening Day roster. After a long comeback from multiple surgeries on his right arm, Cleveland's star left fielder was a part of the active roster the team unveiled on Sunday morning. "The work paid off," Brantley said recently. "All the sacrifices everybody made to help me out this offseason to get to this point, it's very appreciated. Stick to the process. The process works." The Indians open the regular season on the road with a 7:05 p.m.