The Mets And The Oliver Perez Quagmire
by Eric Simon on Sep 7, 2010 11:00 AM EDT
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There are plenty of things to do to keep busy during the final four weeks of the Mets season, and there are sure to be plenty to keep us -- and the Mets -- busy throughout the offseason. One such open item concerns the future of Oliver Perez, who has become the sort of nettlesome pariah we haven't seen in Queens since 2009's version of Oliver Perez. Here's a rough timeline since Perez became a free agent following the 2008 season.
- February 2, 2009. Mets outbid all other suitors (where number of other suitors = 0) by signing Perez to a three-year, $36 million deal.
- April 2009 - May 2010. Perez is predictably awful.
- May 2010. Mets ask Perez to accept minor league assignment to work on some things, namely "pitching". Perez refuses, says "I want to stay here." He was at a Milwaukee-area Chili's at the time, but when the Mets took it too literally Perez clarified, "I mean, with the Mets."
- June 6, 2010. Unable to demote Perez, Mets instead place him on disabled list with "patella tendinitis in his right knee". Ironic quotes are mine.
- June 2010. Perez idles on disabled list, thinks about what he's done.
- June 30, 2010. Perez begins minor league rehab assignment. Reportedly tells a St. Lucie teammate that he "makes more money taking a dump in the Tradition Field bullpen than you'll make all year."
- July 1, 2010. Takes dump in Tradition Field bullpen. Cashes check for $67,000.
- July 21, 2010. Perez returns to the Mets.
- July 2010 - September 2010. Perez is predictably awful.
Mets players have made it clear that they want Perez gone, and by "made it clear" I mean "refused to go on the record but have instead blabbed anonymously to the local media". Jeff Pearlman has called Perez the lowest of the low for refusing a minor league demotion when Brett Myers, renowned wife-beater, accepted a similar demotion following his struggles with the Phillies in 2008. Myers is a more accomplished big league pitcher than Perez (16.8 career WAR versus 5.9 for Perez), but he was humble enough to recognize that he needed to work on some things before he was ready to face major league hitters again.
The Mets have previously had success with sending floundering starters down to the minors, doing so with Steve Trachsel in 2001 and earlier with Bobby Jones. Perez was either too immodest or too thick-headed to accept that he was (a) pitching horribly, and (b) that he couldn't reasonably be allowed to "figure things out" against premium competition. Maybe he just still believed the hype, legitimate as it was after his splendid year in 2004 or artificially inflated as it was by the imprudent contract he was given by the Mets in 2009.
The perception of Perez as a selfish prat is what has led to his being loathed by fans and, apparently, teammates, far more so than similarly overpaid players like Roger Cedeno or Mo Vaughn, who were resented for their contracts but not universally despised the way Perez is. Under different circumstances one might have actually felt bad for Perez, overpaid as he is, for having to mill about aimlessly in the bullpen for four workless weeks in August while the Mets gave throwaway innings to Elmer Dessens and Ryota Igarashi. After all, Perez is earning more than four-fifths of the starting rotation earns combined, was seemingly healthy, and yet couldn't beg his way into a game for 28 straight days.
Any plea for sympathy went out the window the moment Perez said, "No thanks, it's not for me" when asked to work on some things in Triple-A Buffalo. If my writing peripherals fall apart, you guys would have every right to demote me to the FanPosts until I get my act together. One could reasonably support Perez's rehabilitation from the dregs of the league if he only had (a) the humility to accept his shortcomings, and (b) the drive to do everything in his power to improve himself. At this point neither of those things seems likely.
It's difficult to imagine a scenario where Oliver Perez as part of the 2011 Opening Day Mets makes any sense at all. He indicated yesterday that he might play winter ball in Puerto Rico, but unless he spends the offseason working out and getting better at pitching baseballs, and gets to Florida in February and blows everyone away with his attitude as well as his fastball, his presence on the active roster is superfluous at best and disruptive and destructive at worst. I also can't see any other team taking on more than a million dollars of Perez's $12 million 2011 salary, unless the Mets are willing to take back an equally embarrassing contract in return.
Like Perez, Gil Meche is similarly owed $12 million next season in the final year of his contract. Would you take him straight-up for Perez? Meche has walked more batters than he has struck out this season, and after opting out of season-ending shoulder surgery is now pitching in relief for the Royals. Alternatively, in a depressing bit of sentimentality, the Mets could reacquire Scott Kazmir and his guaranteed $14.5 million from the Angels. Kazmir still walks as many batters as he ever has, but he can no longer strike anyone out. There's also Kosuke Fukudome, who is set to make $13.5 with the Cubs next year, but he's actually somewhat useful and has a no-trade clause to boot.
If they can't find a comparably bad contract to exchange for Perez's, the Mets will have to fork over the $12 million to Perez, and it seems plainly clear that they'd be better off paying him that money to pitch elsewhere or nowhere at all than to pitch -- or not pitch -- for the Mets. There are only two reasons the Mets wouldn't just cut bait with Perez.
- They think he might be able to contribute something of value
- They don't want to risk looking foolish by releasing him only to have him pitch well for another team
All but the most hopeless optimist have long given up hope of the first coming true. Not only will we never see 2004 Oliver Perez again, chances are we'll never see 2007 Oliver Perez again, and even 2008 Oliver Perez seems pitifully out of reach. No, it doesn't seem likely at all that Perez will contribute meaningfully to the 2011 Mets.
As for the second point, sure, Perez might find success with another club after moving on from the Mets, and if that happens the Mets might look foolish. However, they already do look foolish for keeping Perez on the roster and even pitching him occasionally, and they'll look even more witless if they carry him for one or more miserable months in 2011. It's a simple question of probability: Maybe there's a 25% chance he pitches well for the Cardinals or the Royals, but there's nearly a 100% chance of undesirable results should the Mets break camp with Perez next season.
The Mets could reasonably take until the end of spring training to find a new home for Perez. Maybe there's a fit with one of the aforementioned players -- or someone else entirely -- that could allow them to part ways with their albatross in exchange for another's in a standard change-of-scenery swap. Failing that, the Mets can offer Perez another demotion to begin 2011 and, should he once again decline the invitation, they could grant him his outright release. I'll frequently argue that it sometimes makes sense to take on a jerk so long as his production makes up for his personality. In Perez, the Mets got the worst of both: an awful player with the hubris of a great one. Once the 2010 season draws to a merciful close, a priority for the 2011 Mets should be that Oliver Perez never pitches for them.
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there's no quagmire
just cut this talentless whiny hack.
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
The Mets could also be holding on to him for reason #3
They simply do not understand the concept of a sunk cost. Seems to be the only other reason Omar still has a job as well.
by Criss Angel Couldn't Make Frenchy Vanish on Sep 7, 2010 11:12 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
yeah this
it’s not so much an ollie quagmire as a really dumb owners quagmire.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
Unfortunately,
As long as this guy is in charge of the organization, nothing meaningful will change for he better. But hell, I can’t figure out why not just utilize a buyout option, just to save your season? (possibly) If $12 million and an extra roster spot gets you into the playoffs, the trade-off is worth it.
(Your ad here)
Actually, it proves they do understand "sunk cost."
I believe a lengthy article on this very subject was posted here earlier in the year. His money is guaranteed, there is no additional financial cost in keeping him around to see if he can right the sinking ship that his career has become. This does not cover the “clubhouse cancer” aspect, however, but why worry about that when you’ve long since fallen out of the playoff race?
At this point, no other team will touch Perez. Leave him on the roster for these last few weeks, encourage him to pitch winter ball, and hope he impresses enough in spring training ‘11 to entice some team to take him off the Mets’ hands (though they will still have to eat most of that contract). To me, the day in April ‘11 the Mets break spring camp is the real date to eat Perez’ contract, if you can’t move him before then. Absent a dramatic improvement in performance and attitude (both equally unlikely), you can not break camp with this guy on the opening day 25 without seriously demoralizing both the fan base and his teammates (“Are we really trying?”).
by madisonmetsfan on Sep 7, 2010 4:28 PM EDT up reply actions
I kind of agree with your point
I mean, I think at this point, because we didn’t release him earlier when the postseason was still a realistic possibility, then yeah, now it makes sense to at least bring him into spring training to see if we can get any value out of him.
The issue is that what indication do we have that the Mets will do the right thing and cut him by April 11? Sure, it makes sense to us as the feasible thing to do next year, but it was also feasibly to cut him in June. Instead, we let him take up a roster spot while this team still had a realistic shot at contention. The process from our "brain"trust is broken. That is the issue. I don’t have any confidence that we do the right thing coming out of Spring Training next year.
by DannyMetsGeek on Sep 7, 2010 5:12 PM EDT up reply actions
They're actual is a financial cost
we’re out of the play-offs now but we weren’t 4 months ago when refusing to eat his contract was a major reason they wouldn’t add to the team during the off-season.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
I'd call that a competitive cost, not financial.
On 4/1/10, Ollie was owed 2 years, $24m, and no one knew for sure how he would perform this year—after all, his career to date can best be described as “erratic.” So releasing him then would have cost $24m plus the possibility (laughable now, but that’s hindsight) that he might pitch decently in ’10.
by madisonmetsfan on Sep 7, 2010 7:06 PM EDT up reply actions
but I imagine the competitiveness of the team
directly relates to ticket sales for most teams. not to mention the extra money for play-off berths.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
Would it have exceeded $24m +?
Plus being the salary of the player who would have replaced Ollie on the roster. I doubt it, but I genuinely can’t say for sure.
But was there really another player out there (presumably a pitcher) whom the Mets could have signed and who would have made them a playoff team? And would you have trusted Omar to pick the right guy?
My answers to these questions are, “no” and “hell no.” Judging from your tag line, I suspect yours would be the same.
by madisonmetsfan on Sep 7, 2010 8:38 PM EDT up reply actions
well ticket sales are down 15%
So you could probably take the average mets ticket price and multiply it by whatever amount 15% accounts for, then you have to take into account parking and and concessions, then I think teams make about 1-2 million per play-off game in ticket sales.
Plus there’s the fact the 24 million is already spent so I’m not really sure how it has to replace 24 full million. Especially when Ollie isn’t even actually used.
And the fact Omar is still around is another example of them not understanding sunk cost, since by most accounts he’s around because they don’t want to eat the lolextension they gave him.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
I think you might be lowballing profits on playoff games a bit.
50,000 tickets at average cost of $50 = $2.5 million. Plus concessions it’s a but over your range, even taking out costs. Playoffs are very valuable for teams, especially considering that the players are playing essentially for free (post-eason bonuses equalling a small portion of their per game take home, at least for most guys).
well the teams apparently only get 36% of the ticket sales revenue
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
that's wrong it's 38.4%
In the LDS, 60% of ticket revenue from the first three games goes to players from both teams, while 1.6% goes to the umpires. The remaining 38.4% of gate revenue is split evenly between the teams. In the ALCS and World Series, players get 60% of ticket sales from the first four games, and the Commissioner’s office gets 15% of World Series ticket sales.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
apparently most of the money teams make is from selling ads
and sponsorship
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
I bet that a few innings of ads outstrips ticket sales by a lot...
But I believe—and I know if I’m wrong I will be corrected—that the league gets most of whatever the networks pay for the rights.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 7, 2010 11:08 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm not sure if you're referring to this article but your point is exactly right
Granted, this was in June of this year, before it was as apparent that Oliver can’t throw harder than 87 and would never ever ever recover his value:
I do not believe that the Mets are not holding on to Oliver Perez because they do not want egg on their face. I do believe, and I truly hope, that the Mets are holding on to Perez because they correctly view his contract as a sunk cost and that it doesn’t matter what he is earning — all that matters that he has an ability to put it all together and throw a baseball better than all but a few dozen people on the planet.
*
Instead of criticizing the Mets for not understanding “sunk cost” as a reason THAT THEY SHOULD cut Oliver Perez, I would posit that most fans have the issue backwards. Since the contract is properly conceptualized as a “sunk cost”, it should be completely irrelevant to our decision-making. Perez should be viewed as he is – team property for two more seasons no matter what. And with a resume like he has, he’s not the kind of guy you want to cut loose for free.
Roster spot is the ongoing cost
when he is worse than a replacement player, the sunk cost argument is to release him.
Yes, that's the article I was thinking of.
And I still maintain that it’s correct—unless he’s still on the team and still Bad Ollie in spring training. Then the non-monetary factors outweigh the $12m left on his deal.
Also, though no one has said it, it will be far easier for a new GM to cut Ollie loose and write him off as Omar’s mistake than for Omar himself to do it.
by madisonmetsfan on Sep 7, 2010 6:59 PM EDT up reply actions
I think you can look at it both ways. The value of a sunk cost does not always have to be monetary. In this case, it's mixed.
by Criss Angel Couldn't Make Frenchy Vanish on Sep 7, 2010 10:51 PM EDT up reply actions
Also, I realize you assume that the Wilpons are keeping Oliver on the roster
because they feel he has potential. But given Omar, Castillo, etc., my assumption is that the Wilpons are keeping Oliver on the roster because they’re afraid to admit their mistake, or simply that because they’re paying him he should be on the roster. I don’t think his talent level is truly being considered at all.
In fact, it probably wasn’t even considered when they offered the damn contract in the first place.
by Criss Angel Couldn't Make Frenchy Vanish on Sep 8, 2010 2:04 AM EDT up reply actions
Lemme give a real estate guy's take here...
I worked in high-finance real estate for a while so maybe I can shed some light. A sunk cost in this circumstance in an amount already-committed to that you can’t escape from. For example, if a commercial tenant seems unlikely to pay rent once your up-front costs of preparing the space are underway, this is a sunk cost. You are committed and you have to do what you say, regardless of your opinion. If, however, that tenant declares bankruptcy and rejects its lease with you, then those costs are not sunk: they just live in the ether of legal fiction. Due to the MLB CBA, Ollie is a sunk cost. Save his death or really bad act, the team has to pay. But the value of a sunk cost is always monetary in its most basic form. Any asset or liability can be reduced to a dollar figure, even roster space if the analysis into lost revenue via WAR etc goes far enough. The problem, as CACMFV alludes to, is that these dollar figures are often subject to dispute. This leads to the question: would you rather eat a known loss or hope that oil is discovered under your otherwise worthless land. A real estate investor will usually try to wait out the storm, and perhaps that’s what the Wipons are doing here. Rather than fish or cut bait, they are gonna sit on the lake in the hopes a fish will jump onto their boat.
Ah, I see. That makes sense. I kind of figured you could just apply the definition elsewhere.
So Perez is a sunk cost, and (in my opinion) it would be most beneficial to the team if he was off of it. If he didn’t suck, and had some potential of recovery, it might make sense to keep him. Yes?
BTW, I thought CACMFV was some financial reform bill at first glance. That’s a hilariously awesome abbreviation of my username.
by Criss Angel Couldn't Make Frenchy Vanish on Sep 8, 2010 12:41 PM EDT up reply actions
That's right...
If he was cut in April, then perhaps the sunk cost could be mitigated by Gee or Misch (just throwing names out here), who might, very cheaply, contribute. But at this point in the season it’s worthwhile to just hold on to him and to wait and see. If he still sucks next year, cut him to keep space on the 25 man roster, but do it in spring training. There’s no point to cutting him now, especially with the 40 man roster.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 9, 2010 12:33 AM EDT up reply actions
Give Ollie until the end of spring training
If he can’t pitch at an acceptable level and he can’t be moved, cut him.
that's kind of you
I would have deported him awhile back.
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
Hey now....
We’re in the grapefruit league in spring training, not the cactus league.
Part of being an effective managment team is admitting you made a mistake and
go on from there.After Monday nights game Perez was quoted "This was the best I felt .in a real long time.I feel good " This clown should be released at the end of this season for the sake of the players,fans and the for the good of the franchise.WAKE UP WILPONS!!!
by Putnan Prince on Sep 7, 2010 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Perez
has a giant ego.
This comes from cashing big checks while making bowel movements.
His big ego couldn’t be flushed.
Nor could Omar Minaya’s
So, what you're saying is that
Ollie isn’t going to be #31 on the top 50 Mets then.
by Sokojoe on Sep 7, 2010 11:41 AM EDT reply actions 6 recs
I have a feeling that he will be on the roster next year.
Management thinks no one will notice the bad contract if he’s on the team.
sadly this is probably true
they need to stop being gimps and go drink a beer.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
why can't it be like the NFL where you can cut the player
Any task BIG or small, Do it well or not at all
Because
The MLBPA doesn’t like its membership taking it up the ass— figuratively, of course— nearly as much as Gene Upshaw did (apparently).
by LeiterMilnerFasterStronger on Sep 7, 2010 3:38 PM EDT up reply actions
its basically true but i dont think you can lay all the blame on gene upshaw
a whole lot more went into the labor mgmt relations in both leagues to simplify it to that level.
HELLO HELLO MR WILPON... BUY THAT MANSION. WE DONT NEED A CONDO.
Does this seem exactly backwards to anyone else?
In football, where serious injury is more common and careers shorter, wouldn’t it make better sense if that’s where the guaranteed money was? Oh wait, that was me expecting the world to be logical again.
Well it makes sense because of the salary cap
and the players cuts of revenue. How many big contracts do you think owners would hand out if they knew that every time their player stepped on the field there was a pretty high risk of getting 0 return on your investment. It’s kind of a balancing act players get bigger contracts than they would if they were guaranteed without owners risks going through the roof, since I’d imagine getting any NFL contract insured is impossible.
Plus I’d imagine NFL players do end up getting a larger cut of revenue than MLB players because of the salary floor, they just have to split it among huge rosters.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
also the NFL players tried striking for guaranteed contracts
and the NFL owners took a big dump on them by hiring scabs and playing anyway. although some teams held off on scabs so that FA would hopefully favor them later on, teams like the a-hole redskins when full out scab mode and ended up winning a tainted superbowl that theyre pathetic fans think somehow counts as much as any other season where half the league didn’t just lay down for most of the regular season.
stupid stupid redskins.
HELLO HELLO MR WILPON... BUY THAT MANSION. WE DONT NEED A CONDO.
by kendynamo on Sep 7, 2010 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This is the single most
ridiculous situation you can point to that defines this franchise right now.
I don’t know if it’s the Wilpons, Omar or a combination of both that would not just grant Perez his release this season.
There’s blame on both sides on this issue.
Ollie should have accepted the minor league assignment to work on his problem – no doubt about that.
When he refused, which was well within his ‘rights’ but far from the best decision he could make, the Mets decided to bury him in the BP.
I ask you….for what purpose would they want to keep him out in that BP? It’s a sunk cost – either way. Who cares if they release him and there’s a remote chance someone fixes him on the Mets dime? The Mets certainly failed at that. So if the money would be spent anyway, better it be spent on some other team, then in sitting in that BP, doing nothing but aggravating the fan base as a whole.
There’s not even a remote chance Perez could show anything to any team getting 2 opportunities in over 5 weeks. So now they’re going to invite him to ST to show off his stuff and see if they can trade him? This just epitomizes everything that is wrong with this organization.
by MetsFan4Decades on Sep 7, 2010 11:58 AM EDT reply actions
I really hope that Spring Training scenario does not play out
I won’t look as forward to Port St. Losing, if that happens
(Your ad here)
I agree with you here
the sunk cost argument would hold water if the Mets were actually using Ollie, but he doesn’t even come in for extreme mop up duty most of the time now. He’s a total non-entity, which means the value of cutting him is actually equal to the value of keeping him buried
Hey, wait! I'm having one of those things. You know? A headache with pictures?
by KeithsMoustache on Sep 7, 2010 6:26 PM EDT up reply actions
I think they're vindictively not pitching Ollie because he wouldn't go to the minors.Trying to
embarass him into taking a few $million less to obtain his release.Instead of eating the money this is what management? has come to.
by Putnan Prince on Sep 7, 2010 9:37 PM EDT up reply actions
It might be vindictive
but it might also be that the Mets felt backed into a corner. Ollie needed to go to AAA and refused. What would it have meant if the Mets just folded and said, “OK Ollie we’ll do it your way and put you in the rotation.” That would have been a bad precedent.
Vindicative?
Ummm no. The man is not a MLB quality pitcher. That’s all. And he won’t retire nor accept another assignment. Since they have no choice but to pay his salary, having him warm the bullpen bench is really the best place for him. They offered options and he refused.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 7, 2010 10:26 PM EDT up reply actions
They had and have the right to RELEASE THE OLLIE.At this point I don't see anything
else they can do.All teams have had bad free agent signings.The smart ones realize their mistakes and move on.
by Putnan Prince on Sep 7, 2010 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Don't get me wrong...
I want him gone as much as anyone. But getting rid of him right now would mean that we are on the hook for his salary plus there’s no chance of any upside however remote. What we really need is an Ollie TARP program, where someone else pays his salary while we get to absorb any upside.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 7, 2010 11:10 PM EDT up reply actions
One minor quibble
I don’t think you can say Ollie was predictably awful starting in April 2009. Predictably not worth his contract, sure. And he is so unpredictable that negative value was a distinct possibility, but given that he was “worth” $5.8 million in 2008 and $8.8 in 2007, predictably awful (which I would take to mean 6 e.r.a., negative value, etc.) is overstating a bit how bad the contract was in hindsight. The guy fell off a cliff. He went from walking 4-5 guys per 9 to walking 8 guys per 9. He did something similar in 2005 and 6 after a great 2004, so that chance was there. Still, if they had given him 3 years at 7-8 million per you really couldn’t bitch and moan too much until he actually shit the bed. Although given his track record on being unreliable, even that would have caused some teeth gnashing, I suppose.
But the rest is spot on, and if they could get Fukudome for him, even if he turns into 2011’s Carlos Silva Cub career revival example, I’d accept that.
Even at his worst,
Carlos Silva was still nonpareil in suckitude to what Oliver Perez is now. Unless something like this happened, I’m pretty certain that Perez offers absolutely no positive assets to MLB ever again.
(Your ad here)
We can rebuild him. We have the technology.
You don't cheer for the Mets. You drink for the Mets.
except there's no tech to give brains, courage, or pitching talent :)
"Fantasy, reality, science Fiction. Which is which? Who can tell?"
Probably so
I was just saying if by some miracle he revived, it wouldn’t bother me much.
Carlos’s e.r.a.s were as bad or worse in 2008 and 2009 and Ollie’s in 2009 and 2010, but his xfips were better. Ollie has been above 6 2 years running, and Silva wasn’t that high.
He was given that worth in 2008
but if you go back and look you can see a pretty steady decline in velocity, and when a players only calling cards is one plus pitch and fastball velocity losing one of those things is going to have a pretty big affect, and as far as I can tell the change in the effectiveness of his fastball has been his demise. Even back in 08 he was near the top of the league in walks and home runs allowed, and that was after 2 years in a pitchers park, I imagine most gms could look at those two numbers alone and write him off…which is probably why we were the only ones who ever bid on him.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
Question
So if the Mets do not put him on the MLB roster out of Spring Training, they can’t have him in the minors?
Correct
If he doesn’t accept a demotion to the minors they have to either put him on the 25-man roster or release him.
Fixed!
If he doesn’t accept a demotion to the minors they have to either put him on the 25-man roster or release him.
by Criss Angel Couldn't Make Frenchy Vanish on Sep 7, 2010 12:17 PM EDT up reply actions
I'm sure this quote was based on past history
Like Perez, Gil Meche is similarly owed $12 million next season in the final year of his contract. Would you take him straight-up for Perez?
In either case, this is relevant – it was once in the works.
(Your ad here)
I'd say use him as a head hunter
but his fastball wouldn’t do much damage.
who knows
you ask him to start throwing at guys heads, maybe he’ll accidentally start throwing strikes
2009 Did Not Happen
Sigh...
I expect Omar and Oliver to be a part of the 2011 Mets. Omar has embarrassing taped phone calls, videos, and photos of The Wilpons, and Oliver has those same things on Omar.
Work is the scourge of the drinking classes.-Oscar Wilde
Yeah but
The Wilpons have embarrassing taped phone calls, videos, and photos of Ollie, so it all kind of cancels everything out.
Anyone with SNY and a DVR, and/or internet access.
Has embarrassing tape, videos, and photos of Ollie.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 7, 2010 2:27 PM EDT up reply actions 9 recs
Anyone with tapes of Omar holding a press conference(which he no longer does)
has absolute proof that he is incapable of being an effective stadium usher never mind a GM of a major league team in the media capital of the world
by Putnan Prince on Sep 7, 2010 9:47 PM EDT up reply actions
Incorrect...
All reports have him as a great parking guy.
by MookieTheCat on Sep 7, 2010 10:27 PM EDT up reply actions
I see Omar as
a replacement level parking guy.
What's the score, boys?
What did Bugs Bunny do?
What's with the Carrot League baseball today?
He had a +4 CPAR for his time in the lot...
That’s 4 more cars parked per game than an average replacement coming out of a halfway house.
The Oliver Perez story is so interesting to me
Beyond anger, that is — for two reasons:
1. Why did he all of a sudden suck? Where did the velocity go? Why did he go from a talented enigmatic pitcher who wobbled in and out of trouble but was ultimately above average to an absolute train wreck?
2. Why did he decline to go to the minor leagues? Did he think that he’s diminished so much that he’ll never make it back up? Did he worry that if he was demoted that if he wanted to get that $12 million he’d have to do it riding buses between Buffalo and Syracuse? Or is there some other reason?
Is it hubris or the acknowledgement of his obviously diminished skill?
I can't figure out 2
but 1, I imagine the lost velocity, where it went idk, but he really only had two pitchers, a + slider and a fastball with great velocity, so once the fastball no longer had great velocity he turned into a one pitch pitcher.
Also in 08 he really wasn’t above average. Really in the 7 major league seasons prior to us giving him that deal he’d put up 2 above average seasons, and one was in 04.
mediocrity thy name is Wilpon- jdon
1. Look at number nine on this list and compare that guy with his peers.
2. If Perez agrees to a minor league assignment, he will not accrue service time. This may not seem like a big deal to some of you, but it’s probably huge to someone like Perez, who despite getting a massive, undeserved pay day, would like to have a full pension to fall back on. Ollie will finish the season with eight years service time and the full pension comes at ten. Someone with his diminished skills will have to scratch and claw to get year ten, so he played the Mets for the fools that they are. Perez had leverage — the refusal to accept assignment — against an organization that refuses to cut bait with sunk costs.
It’s also worth noting that Boras suggested a worthy solution to this in the middle of the season. He asked for the Mets to DL Ollie with depression and have him see a sports psychiatrist in Port St. Lucie. There Perez would be out of the way indefinitely while accruing service time and maybe, just maybe, get rehabilitated. Of course, the Mets chose the most fucking asinine choice.
www.twitter.com/willDavidian
by All Shook Down on Sep 7, 2010 6:52 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
This is probably the best reason I've read thus far...
Now the Ollie thing makes a LOT more sense, and further underscores that he’s a douche in so many ways.
Hubris?
I don’t see that. I don’t think Ollie thinks he’s good, and more importantly he doesn’t think he can get better. It isn’t hubris; it’s defeatism. I see a man who secretly wants to be cut, who wants to move on with his millions. Remember he had contemplated retirement in Pittsburgh.
by Pack Bringley on Sep 7, 2010 4:27 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I think is a decent point...
He has enough money now to never have to do anything he does not want to do for the rest of his life. It might just be a matter of him not caring. I always sensed that he had a lazy streak—NOTE: I THINK A LOT OF WHITE PLAYERS ARE LAZY TOO SO DON’T EVEN BRING THE RACIAL THING UP—or maybe just a “I don’t care” streak. You could see it when he used to get shelled every so often but was decent most of the time. While a lot of guys come off the mound looking pissed or annoyed with themselves, he always had something of a blank stare.Am I wrong about this?
Depends how you interpret it
Perhaps we’re conflating “delusional to the point of actually thinking you’re still a good pitcher despite all evidence to the contrary” with “hubris”. Or perhaps I’m just into that whole brevity thing.
Quick point:
The Mets won’t look any more foolish than they already do if they now cut Perez and he pitches well elsewhere (coughDaveDuncancough). He looks so hopeless that the Mets will be roundly considered justified to cut him regardless of what he does in the future.
That said, having already looked like idiots for hanging on to him, why not keep him through Spring Training next year? If he figures something out over the winter or has an undisclosed injury that heals, he might still be able to contribute… something. Also, if he’s looks okay in ST there’s a much better chance the Mets will be able to convince another team to part with its iffy but not entirely hopeless contract.
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