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I’m back on board with this organization today. Many of us have been so critical of the Mets over the last four years and, in many cases, rightfully so. There aren’t many teams that would eat $18 million in contracts between Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo in three days like the Mets just did. That shows some smarts and some guts to move forward in a new direction.
I have to admit that I was okay with the Perez contract before the 2009 season. If you remember, it was between Perez and Derek Lowe, who ended up getting a 4-year/$60 million contract from the Braves. By comparison, the Perez deal was a bargain. A bargain that turned into a nightmare.
Since Perez signed the big contract in 2009 he’s gone 3-9 in 31 games with a 6.81 ERA. It was time to move on without Perez. I applaud this team for making a decision that couldn’t have been made lightly considering the money that was on the line. And I won’t even get into the Wilpon’s current financial situation.
Take a look at Perez’ final stats with the Mets.
| Year | Age | Tm | Lg | W | L | G | GS | GF | CG | SHO | SV | IP | H | R | ER | HR | BB | IBB | SO | HBP | BK | WP | BF | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | 24 | NYM | NL | 1 | 3 | .250 | 6.38 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 36.2 | 41 | 26 | 26 | 7 | 17 | 0 | 41 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 165 | 69 | 1.582 |
| 2007 | 25 | NYM | NL | 15 | 10 | .600 | 3.56 | 29 | 29 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 177.0 | 153 | 90 | 70 | 22 | 79 | 1 | 174 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 765 | 121 | 1.311 |
| 2008 | 26 | NYM | NL | 10 | 7 | .588 | 4.22 | 34 | 34 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 194.0 | 167 | 100 | 91 | 24 | 105 | 4 | 180 | 11 | 1 | 9 | 847 | 100 | 1.402 |
| 2009 | 27 | NYM | NL | 3 | 4 | .429 | 6.82 | 14 | 14 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 66.0 | 69 | 51 | 50 | 12 | 58 | 2 | 62 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 324 | 60 | 1.924 |
| 2010 | 28 | NYM | NL | 0 | 5 | .000 | 6.80 | 17 | 7 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46.1 | 54 | 37 | 35 | 9 | 42 | 3 | 37 | 4 | 0 | 4 | 234 | 58 | 2.072 |
| NYM (5 yrs) | 29 | 29 | .500 | 4.71 | 101 | 91 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 520.0 | 484 | 304 | 272 | 74 | 301 | 10 | 494 | 29 | 1 | 22 | 2335 | 90 | 1.510 | |||
The Mets Report 