“I think they gave me an opportunity ... I didn't do anything great. They moved me to the bullpen trying to be a lefty specialist. And the last game, that was a real horrible job. ”
~ Oliver Perez ~
~ Oliver Perez ~
Oliver Perez, the enigmatic lefty, has been released by the Mets. Three days after the Mets parted ways with the much maligned 2B Luis Castillo, Perez was given his pink slip this morning.
Oliver Perez is an enigma, to say the least. When the Mets picked him up from the Pirates back in 2006 along with Roberto Hernandez, the Mets said good bye to the well liked RF, Xavier Nady.
No one knew what to expect from Perez, who was bouncing between the Pirates and their minor league affiliate in Indianapolis. OP was merely the "throw-in." Hernandez was the main man of the deal.
Perez, who was assigned to the Mets AAA Norfolk Tides when acquired, pitched in 4 games before being brought up to the Mets.
After his promotion, Perez pitched well in big spots. His most memorable start that season came in game 6 of the NLCS against St. Louis. Perez pitched 6 innings allowing 1 run, and was saved by Endy Chavez's legendary catch, before the Mets succumbed to the Cardinals, when Aaron Heilman gave up the game changing HR to Yadier Molina.
In 2007 Perez had possibly his best season, when he was 15-10 with a 3.56 ERA. It looked like former Mets GM Omar Minaya had once again found a diamond in the rough. Minaya signed Perez to a questionable 3 year $36M contract.
This is where the Mets diamond in the rough turned to cubic zirconia before our eyes:
From 2008 - 2010 Perez only won 13 games while losing 16. He came to camp in 2008 in poor shape, and had lost close to 6 MPH off his fastball. His delivery was inconsistent, and the results were poor.
In 2009 Perez had a knee injury which is what was blamed for his ineffectiveness. He only pitched in 14 games, and was a putrid 3-4 with a 6.82ERA.
Perez was off to a no better start in 2010 and the Mets asked him to accept an assignment to the minors to work on his mechanics and conditioning. Perez refused. This is what possibly started the very long walk down the road of release.
By the end of 2010, Perez was used sparingly out of the bullpen, and didn't fair very well. For the season he was 0-5 with a 6.80 ERA.
Unable to trade Ollie during the off-season, the new Mets management decided to give Perez a chance to prove himself. There was much concern over his anemic fastball, which was barely registering 85 MPH on the gun. Manager Terry Collins kept looking for the bright spot in the dark cloud of Oliver Perez, but there was none to be found. Perez was moved to the LOOGY role in the bullpen, and this past Saturday he allowed back-to-back HR's, one a three run blast, to make a Mets 7-0 lead turn into a more competitive game.
This morning, the inevitable came to pass. The Mets informed the quirky lefty that he has been released. Perez, from quotes we've read, handled the situation with more class than Castillo did on Friday.
Perez left the clubhouse shaking hands of his friends and former teammates, and said this about his feelings and his future:
"When they told me, I almost knew what they were going to tell me. It's one of those times you don't feel great, but I don't want to quit."
It's hard to imagine that Perez will latch on with another team at this point, but with any team wanting to acquire him, they will only be responsible for the Major League minimum, while the Mets are on the hook for the remainder of his $12M salary.
Looking back, if not for Duaner Sanchez's injury in a cab accident, the Mets would never have traded for Hernandez, with Perez as the throw in. If not for Perez, would the Mets have played as well in the play-offs? Would they have been as competitive in 2007 before the collapse?
We will never know. What we do know is that Perez, although frustrating through much of his Mets career, was also fun to watch in the days of 2006 and 2007. That is the Oliver Perez I will miss.
Sources: Adam Rubin, Ultimate Mets Database, Baseball Reference
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