As MLB starts an investigation into the “injury” of Oliver Perez that comes at a most convenient time, I talked with an equal number of Mets and Yankee fans about what pitcher has been the most damaging to their respective team.
Carl Pavano of the Yankees, who supposedly has an MRI machine named after him in the Yankees clubhouse, or Oliver Perez of the Mets who famously broke his toe kicking a cart after a loss that landed him on the DL for two months while playing for the Pirates.
Why did this topic come up?
Interestingly enough, the Twins are in town between June 25th and 27th. This is Carl Pavano’s current team. Oliver Perez will be off the disabled list just in time for this series and, in theory, we could see a Perez/Pavano matchup. What would we call it?
History repeats itself.
In 2007, Mike Mussina and Joe Torre questioned whether Pavano actually wanted to be on the team. In December of that year, the Yankees asked Pavano to work out his problems in the minors to make room on the roster. He declined and in May of that year opted for Tommy John surgery. Of course, what Pavano wanted was to remain on the roster the entire year in order to get a share of any World Series win and season ending surgery allowed him to do that.
In 2010, neither Johan Santana nor Jerry Manuel is questioning whether Perez wants to be on the team, at least not publicly, and his teammates even defend his decision not to go down to the minors. Is Ollie trying to remain on the roster for a similar reason? Is he stalling until a decision on season ending surgery is made just to avoid the minors and continue collecting on his overblown salary?
Will the bullpen be fresh for the stretch drive this summer?
If the Mets don’t get Ollie off the roster, the answer to this question is “no”. The bullpen will be overtaxed and could cost us yet another season. This will be another rough summer if Ollie is on the roster come July and August.
Can the Mets eat this contract?
Ollie’s salary is higher than many other good pitchers out there including the likes of Cliff Lee who only makes $9 million this year as opposed to Ollie’s $12 million. This will be a tough contract to swallow but unless Ollie can prove he wants to be part of this team I think this is a contract that needs to be eaten. Time to cut our losses.
Only time will tell if Ollie becomes the most infamous pitcher in New York but my gut feeling is “Team Ollie” is trying to figure out what is their best option and season ending surgery is a possibility, whether or not the injury actually exists. I feel this is the last we may see of Oliver Perez.
What do you think? Is this the last we’ve seen of Ollie? Leave me your comments below…
The Mets Report 
I think this is the last we have seen Perez in a Mets major league uniform for 2010, but that does not mean the circus he owns has left town entirely.
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Unless he need surgery, I don't know how he won't come back again this season. I don't think it'll be that easy to get rid of him.
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In various discussions today, one theory is that if Perez does manage to take the rest of the year off with some sort of surgery related to the "Injury" then the Mets should keep him for the walk year of his contract while he is auditioning for other teams. Let him go about his merry way after that but certainly don't bid on him again. He may put up big numbers next year. If the Mets eat the last year of his contract then he will just go somewhere else and audition.
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Sadly, I think he'll be back. There has to be something wrong with him physically if he isn't hitting 90 on the radar gun any longer. So he'll come back, he'll hit 90mph and walk 5 batters in an inning plus. The good news for Ollie is that he's a left handed pitcher and some team will pick him up.
Shoot, even Dontrelle had a decent start for the D-Backs the other night.
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I think Ollie will be fine. I think he's just being stubborn and feels like he can come back without having to go to the minor leagues. I don't think anyone's ever questioned his competitiveness or desire to be on the team before this latest series of incidents. I think it's probably a good thing for him if he were to get traded elsewhere. I think he, like Matsui, needs to be allowed to do his thing without being under the media microscope all the time and without a fanbase that will boo him for the slightest mistake.
In all, though, I don't worry too much about Perez because I still have nightmares about Victor Zambrano, which recur every time I see that Scott Kazmir is starting a game.
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Thanks Tom. You had to remind me of Scott Kazmir. That so made my day. 😉
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Kazmir. The trade that cost us 2 pennants and a World Series.
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"team ollie", seriously? it's not our money that pays for his salary. oh, wait. we the fans buy the tickets, the shirts, the food, the parking spots, the lame souvenirs, the nice souvenirs, the beer, the online services, the cable TV subscriptions, etc., etc. to fund these boys to play a "game" that we love to watch, except when crappy ole ollie pitches. i would rather just have a mercy rule when he comes back where the mets opponents are automatically awarded 5 runs and end the inning sending that slack off straight to the dugout so he could grab the controller for the xbox from some poor unsuspecting "teammate" and show his skills is some stupid video game like grand theft auto (because that's what it really feels like in my seat). you never know, he might actually be good at something.
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We can only hope we've seen the last of Perez. The Mets "braintrust" have to be the only people on planet Earth who believed they'd make a good deal when they re-signed this clown.
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The year they re-signed Pérez, the alternative was Derek Lowe, who wanted twice the amount of money. I am still glad they didn't give Lowe/Boras the years and the money, even given Pérez's uselessness. I love your article and will follow your blog from now on. But it seems that any speculation on Oliver Pérez has to take into account Scott Boras. Boras clients consistently do what is in their best interest, usually to the detriment of the team: JD Drew walked after his second of five years with the Dodgers when he had been injured the first year; Carlos Beltrán and when he finally decided to have his unilateral surgery. It would not surprise me to find out that Boras is behind Pérez's refusal to go to the minors, whispering Barry Zito comparisons into his ear.
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