Oliver Perez has followed up an unpleasant 2009 with an unpleasant 2010 that’s already seen him get bounced from the rotation. The high-priced lefty hasn’t made any progress in relief and the organization has asked him to accept a demotion to the minor leagues, but Perez - a nine-year veteran - has refused, citing skepticism that AAA would do any good.
Oliver Perez Is Unpopular
It’s all led to a very strange situation where Perez doesn’t want to go away, the Mets don’t want to cut him, and some of the Mets’ players don’t want him around anymore. Some choice quotes:
“You tell him you go to Triple-A or that’s it, you are finished,” one Mets player said.
“At some point you have to cut bait,” he said. “You owe him a lot of money, but for what?”
“What, we need another 20-inning game and then use him after we’ve used all our pitchers and if a position player’s sinker isn’t biting?” the player said.
Granted, those statements are so pointed that they sound almost made up, but you have to think the players are the ones making the most sense, here. The Mets don’t want to let Perez go because he’s still owed about $20m through the end of next season, but that money’s already gone. It’s a sunk cost. The only reason to hang on to Perez is if you think he could again become effective, and there’s just no evidence that that’s a real possibility. He’s been legitimately good one time since 2004. He was okay in 2008. He was terrible in 2009, and he’s been terrible again in 2010. Over his last 24 appearances - 21 of them starts - he has as many walks as strikeouts, a ton of home runs allowed, and he’s had a complete inability to put the ball in the zone on a consistent basis.
Oliver Perez is a disaster, and disasters don’t belong in the Major Leagues. If he refuses to go to AAA, the Mets should just cut bait, because the odds that they can do anything to salvage Perez’s contract are unthinkably low. And so are the odds that he figures it out somewhere else.
Oliver Perez is only 28 years old. His actual stuff is still okay. But, overall, he’s a bad pitcher, and he’s a bad pitcher with little hope of turning it around, a bad pitcher who’s unpopular in the clubhouse, and a bad pitcher who’s taking up a spot in the bullpen that could go to someone useful. The Mets should let him go. Keeping him around isn’t going to make that contract any less of a nightmare.
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