The Mets had two reliable left handed relievers last year in Hisanori Takahashi and Pedro Feliciano; however, after Feliciano declined the team's offer of salary arbitration, it appears that neither will be with the club in 2011; per the terms of his contract, the Mets lost the right to sign Takahashi before 2011 if a deal was not in place by October 31. So, what is a team that needs lefties in the bullpen to do? Well, Andy Martino of the New York Daily News seems to think he has a solution, and, it's not one that most fans are going to like...Make Oliver Perez the team's lefty reliever in 2011. Yes, that Oliver Perez.
Why does Martino think the Mets should do this? I'll tell you why. Perez will make $12 million this year, which is guaranteed, so they may as well get something for him. After struggling early, Perez has pitched very well recently in the Mexican winter league. Lefties hit only hit .215 against him last year. Ollie's not really lazy, and despite knowing the team wouldn't be using him, he still worked his butt off in the bullpen. There are no obvious replacements for Takahashi or Feliciano in the Mets' farm system. And, if Perez does struggle in spring training, they can release him before the season anyway.
Alright, let's go through these reasons 1 by 1.
If he struggles in spring training, they can release him anyway. Spring training is a time to give players a chance, I agree; however, haven't we seen enough from Ollie to know what he is? But, if the team wants to use the Grapefruit League to give him a chance, I can't go too crazy because those games don't count anyway.
Lefties only hit .215 against Perez. This point is actually fairly solid, and if Perez could duplicate this result over and over again during the course of the year, I'd be willing to, perhaps, let him try being the lefty specialist. However, when has Ollie actually showed any consistency that would give you any reason to trust him, especially in a big spot. I mean, do you really want Ollie on the mound in a tight game in Citizens Bank Park with Ryan Howard and Chase Utley up and the tying and/or go ahead runs on base? I definitely don't.
Ollie is not lazy. Look, I can't dispute this one at all because I'm not around the team ever. If Perez works as hard as everyone says, then I have to take their word for it.
There are no obvious replacements for Takahashi or Feliciano, so why not use Ollie? Again, I don't trust Perez, and I don't want him facing Howard and Utley in the scenario I described above. I'd be fine with letting a prospect cut his teeth at the major league level and learn what it takes to get big league hitters out, and, who knows, maybe the Mets will catch lightning in a bottle.
Ollie is now pitching very well in the Mexican League. I must have missed something, since when did getting hitters out in the Mexican League equate with success at the Major League level? Kei Igawa set the franchise record for victories for the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre AAA franchise, yet the Yankees have him buried in AAA with no intention of calling him up.
Perez will make the $12 million anyway, so they should get something for him. No. In the 2 prior years of his 3 year deal, which expires, thankfully, after this year, he has not given any indication that he is going to give them any production this year either. Some guys can't pitch in New York, and Oliver Perez appears to be one of them. In this case, the best course for the team would be addition by subtraction. Let Perez go finish out his career playing in a city where they don't care and won't be bothered by the fact that Perez is a godawful pitcher.
So, how would I fill the voids left by Feliciano and Takahashi? I would give some of the young lefties in the team's farm system a chance because, as I said earlier, they may catch lightning in a bottle. I would also explore the scrap heap for lefty relievers--maybe Jesse Orosco can still pitch--because relievers are up and down from year to year anyway. I definitely would not fill the voids with an even bigger void, however.
Seriously. The Mets would be better off calling up John Franco and having him dust off his cleats than letting Ollie pitch another inning. Ollie has had chance after chance after chance and has proven only that he cannot pitch in New York. He does not have good stuff and he does not execute in even non-pinch situations, let alone against big bats in those big situations.
ReplyDeleteIf the Mets want to even dream about being competitors, they need to shelve Ollie, take the money loss, and save themselves the 8 or 9 games that he single handedly would be responsible for losing by the second week of June. Ollie is not the pitcher the Mets organization wants him to be.
You are totally, 100% correct about grabbing for some young talent in the farms. I hope for the sake of the Mets and the fans that they do just that.