Free Oliver Perez

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

We should have started this movement last year when Jerry let Ollie rot in the dungeon, but I'm emboldened by Tracksuit's analysis this morning that Ollie holds the key to the Mets sudden need for a situational lefty reliever. The article notes that even in the horrid 2010 season Ollie shackled lefties to a 215 BAA, and that his sometime tendency to drop down could be honed or intensified during Spring Training, making him the kind of slinger lefties hate to face. His wild tendencies kinda help a little here too, nobody can get too comfy. And hey if it doesn't work out in spring then whack him.

OK, so join me and my pal Tracksuit. FREE OLLIE PEREZ! OLLIE FOR LOOGY!

[Guest Edgy DC]

"The Most Expensive Situational Reliever in History" would look good on a calling card.

[Ceetar]

pass. if we could _teach_ Perez, we'd have no problems anyway.

that .214 batting average against was actually a .411 OBP against, and a .863 OPS against last year.

Too many walks. If he's going to have any success its' not going to be in short roles with runners on base.

I could see him being the versatile reliever. bring him in for an inning, where he may walk some guys but will also get them out. even if it takes 30 pitches. or can come in and throw 3 innings if a starter gets knocked out early or labors. spot starter if double-headers stack up or something.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Yeah sure whatever. The thing is to actually find a way to effectively use a guy on your roster, especially if the front office won;t release him. The Jerry-Omar plan of humiliation and disuse helped nobody.

[Guest Edgy DC]

I think any plan would include working with him on getting the walks down to a manageable level.

If he continues to be terrible, there are few roles to target for him. The idea is to achieve redemption and what the best path to it is.

[Ceetar]

Edgy DC wrote: I think any plan would include working with him on getting the walks down to a manageable level. If he continues to be terrible, there are few roles to target for him. The idea is to achieve redemption and what the best path to it is.

I think it's square peg/round hole to get him to walk few enough batters where bringing him to face situational guys with runners likely already on base is going to be successful. If we can get his walks down that much, succesfully, I very much believe he could be one of the best pitchers in the game.

[duan]

once we were 'out of it' we should have let him start games and see if he could figure it out, certainly once the rosters expanded.

[batmagadanleadoff]

I think that the Mets need for the bad Ollie to become the good Ollie.

[Vic Sage]

they need to set ollie-ollie-oxen FREEEE!

[G-Fafif]

If you post a sign that says "FREE OLIVER PEREZ" in St. Lucie, I'm still not sure anyone would take him.

[smg58]

http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york/mets/post/_/id/12572/ollies-velocity-passable

He's showing some signs of life in Mexico. I think we have to give him a shot for some role in the spring, because we're guaranteed nothing in return for him.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Edgy DC wrote: "The Most Expensive Situational Reliever in History" would look good on a calling card.

And it would be a great gimmick for a "heel turn" (in pro-wrestling parlance). He could do well for a few weeks, dominating lefties situationally... then, all of a sudden, after coming into a game with a three-run lead, walk the bases loaded and hit three batters... and then strut and taunt the crowd as he gets yanked by a dyspeptic Terry Collins. As he leaves, he calls to the batboy to place a towel over the foul line, then jumps over that, throwing fake money at both him and to the crowd.

The best part is, the act is the only thing about his performance that would have to change.

[Lefty Specialist]

If Warthen couldn't fix him the last two years, what makes anyone think he'll be able to fix him next year? Admit the mistake. Cut him, and move on.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Well, it takes more than Warthan.

And really, what's the point of cutting him now when he can be just as easily cut March 31st?

[Lefty Specialist]

Edgy DC wrote: Well, it takes more than Warthan.

Yes, it'd take a whole team of psychiatrists as well.

And really, what's the point of cutting him now when he can be just as easily cut March 31st?

Why waste the innings on someone who'll be useless? I know what the theory is- maybe he'll show something and someone will actually want to trade for him. But more likely, he'll be getting lit up by the Nats Double-A players for a couple of weeks while there's less of a chance to see someone who might actually help the club.

Oliver is a special case. He hasn't done anything for two years, and actively hurt the ballclub by not going to the minors last year, forcing the Mets to play with a 24-man roster for two months. That's his right, of course, but it doesn't make him much of a teammate. The only reason to hang on to him is because there might be 'lightning in a bottle', where he suddenly becomes effective. That's a Minaya way of operating.

Ollie was Omar's mistake. Sandy can jettison him without any stain on his record. The only thing still keeping him around was the fact that the Wilpons didn't want to look like they were paying money for nothing. What they wound up doing was paying money for practically nothing.

[Benjamin Grimm]

Well, the Mets will be auditioning lefty relievers in St. Lucie, so they might as well give a chance to the guy to whom they owe $12 million. With intra-squad games and split-squad games, there are plenty of innings to go around.

[Guest Edgy DC]

Why waste the innings on someone who'll be useless?

Because, as certain as you are, no player is as certain as all that. And many of the players that innings will be invested in will have far less chance of contributing anything anytime soon, and they have a whole lot more to lose by acting on him. And Alderson deserves a chance to assess these things for himself.

Maybe he'll be released next week to gain a roster spot, but every player in a team's system is a hope for lightning in a bottle. There's just different degrees of talent and ability to hope on.

As noted elsewhere, I disagree that carrying him actively hurt the ballclub. Not until the last game, anyhow. I think carrying Jerry Manuel --- and Manuel and Minaya's inablity to decide what they want to do about him --- hurt the club far more.

I don't know why we have to assume his issues are psychological. It just always seems to come down to contempt for the guys's mind and vindictiveness for his asserting his rights when we wanted him to do otherwise. Acting in contempt and vindictiveness doesn't strike me as productive or scientific.

[metirish]

At the least I would think if the Mets have thoughts of cutting Perez they would take him to Spring Training before making that decision.

[Guest Edgy DC]

"In baseball, it's not always the result that best defines the effort - it's about probabilities," Sandy Alderson

[Ceetar]

He's pitching RIGHT NOW.

first batter is a fielding error, then a strike out, wild pitch, a pop up and a ground out.

second inning: ground out, K, popup.

[ashie62]

Ceetar wrote: He's pitching RIGHT NOW. first batter is a fielding error, then a strike out, wild pitch, a pop up and a ground out. second inning: ground out, K, popup.

Maybe he will get kidnapped coming home.