Ollie Perez

by Eric Simon on Jul 31, 2006 10:43 PM EDT in Quick Hits Comment 16 comments

If you want to know why I'm so excited to have Oliver Perez in the Mets' system, go check out his video highlights over at MLB.com. Check out his thirteen strikeout performance in 2004 as a 22 year old. Perez was hitting 96 MPH with consistency late in the game, and was touching 98 at other times. He has a slider that just falls off a cliff.

Maybe his mechanics are shot and there's no hope for him, but I doubt that's true. Mechanical problems can be fixed; talent like his can't be taught. Rick Peterson specializes in mechanics, and routinely has sent Mets pitching prospects down to the lab in Birmingham to get a battery of bio-mechanical evaluations.

Peterson and the Mets were unable to fix Victor Zambrano, but Zambrano never had a season like Oliver Perez had in 2004. That year, Perez posted a 2.99 ERA and struck out 239 batters in 196 innings. He recorded nine double-digit strikeout games. Zambrano wasn't a reclamation project because there was nothing to reclaim; he was never any good.

In 2004, Perez was better than Scott Kazmir is now, and I think he has more upside than Dontrelle Willis. He's still just 24 years old; turns 25 in a couple of weeks. The talent is in there. If Rick Peterson and the Mets can turn this guy around, they could have an ace for years to come.

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I am

so excited about the possibilty of Perez if he can be turned around and having hoping the Mets could get him since he was DFA'ed. I just hope that the Mets can help reclaim his old form and give him the opportunity. Dominant young lefties don't fall off a tree usually.

by udamnwright on Jul 31, 2006 10:55 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agree

Omar took lemons(Sanchez accident) and made lemonade. If Ollie Perez is a 80% of what he was in 04 we are going to be loaded in rotation for years to come and this will go down as a heist of Kazmirian proportions.

its a ground ball...trickling... its a fair ball, its by Buckner, rounding third Knight, the Mets will win the ballgame, the Mets win

by DoctorK16 on Jul 31, 2006 11:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Totally agree

and Eric, I think another reason Peterson wasn't able to fix Zambrano's mechanics is that Zambrano apparently was hiding his elbow problem all along, i.e. he was injured when we got him.

by Max in NJ on Jul 31, 2006 11:23 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

exactly

The only person who could've fixed Zambrano was Dr. James Andrews. Assuming Perez's problems aren't because of an injured shoulder or elbow, I think Jacket has a shot at fixing the guy.

Over at baseball reference, they have a comparison of similar players on each player's card. You know who Oliver Perez most resembled through age 23? Some nice Jewish boy from Brooklyn who used to pitch for the LA Dodgers in the 60s....

Keep Maine in the rotation!

by Greenpoint Ian on Aug 1, 2006 9:38 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Imagine that

If we end up getting Koufax for Xavier Nady, I will shave my head and devote my life to adulation of the Great and Powerful Omar.

Also, I agree with you about Nady. What a kick in the gut for him. I mean, he's a professional and he had to know he was a potential trade chip. But still, to wind up with the Pirates?. Ouch.

"He even tried to pimp it," Floyd said. "He's got no pimp." Said Wright: "I don't even know what that means."

by Billy Everyteen on Aug 1, 2006 10:30 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

one other thing

I feel bad for X-Man. I know he wasn't anything special with the glove and had no plate discipline, but I liked the guy, and I remember some critical hits he had (the 2-run HR off of Randy Johnson in the first Mets-Yankees game of the season, the 2-run single against Pittsburgh when the Mets were slumping and desperately needed a win). It can't feel good to be sent from a team on its way to October to the most wretched franchise in baseball (and yes, the D-Rays and Royals have shown some signs of life of late. I think Pittsburgh is the most pathetic franchise in baseball now.). Hopefully, X-Man's stay in Pittsburgh is brief and he ends up with a team that can win next season.

Keep Maine in the rotation!

by Greenpoint Ian on Aug 1, 2006 9:44 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agreed

I'm sorry to see him go. I balked when the Mets traded Cameron for him, but since then I've considered Nady another "piece of the puzzle" to the postseason--another trade that shows that Omar really knows what he's doing. Not that Nady was the most important piece by any stretch, but everything has been working for this team, and I'd be hesitant to tinker with it much. It's just too bad that the Duaner injury forced Omar's hand.

And sadly, there will be no more smashing my arms together in the form of an X at Shea after Nady does something good.

by kingcritical on Aug 1, 2006 10:32 AM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Review from the other side

I looked at the Pittsburgh blog and Pirate fans (yeah, there are some apparently) think we stole them blind. No one over there likes this trade...

by erich11226 on Aug 1, 2006 12:19 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I almost feel sorry for Pirates fans

But hell, they can drown their sorrows in Super Bowl souvenir glasses...

"He even tried to pimp it," Floyd said. "He's got no pimp." Said Wright: "I don't even know what that means."

by Billy Everyteen on Aug 1, 2006 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Ollie-P

This is obviously well after the fact, but the Pirates fans view of this trade being a steal was more due to the fact that they thought they should've been able to hold the Mets over a barrel when Duaner got in the car accident. I'm having a little trouble remembering the timeline of events from 7/31, but I don't recall much being said about the taxi incident until after the Nady trade went down. Why would Omar impart this information to any GM he was looking to do business with? And assuming he didn't, why would he report this info to anyonne. Obviously any GM would look to take advantage of the injury and the Mets sudden need for relief pitching. Now, if it was reported by the media or someplace else, I could understand that but I don't believe anyone ever said that the Pirates knew about Sanchez before the trade, although I may be wrong.

Of course, if Perez can pitch more consistently like he did against the Braves the other day, it may be a steal anyway, regardless. That said, go Ollie!

by The Irresistable Force on Sep 9, 2006 12:54 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

One more thing

Sandy Koufax was a lefty who could strike guys out by the truckload, but also walked a ton of guys. It wasn't until 1962, when he was 26, that he finally learned better control and became one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived.

Randy Johnson was a lefty who could strike guys out by the truckload, but also walked a ton of guys. It wasn't until 1993, when he was 29, that he finally learned better control and became one of the greatest pitchers who ever lived.

Oliver Perez is a lefty who could strike guys out by the truckload, but also walked a ton of guys. He's 25.

Who knows what the future holds for Oliver Perez, but if Jacket can figure something out.....

Keep Maine in the rotation!

by Greenpoint Ian on Aug 1, 2006 2:14 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

A Couple Of Points

I'd like to make a couple of points based on what I have read here:

What many people fail to mention about Kofax is the fact that, along with his maturation, there was a change in ballpark that helped him become "Kofax". LA Coliseum was a tough park for a lefty because the left-field fence was very close (about 300 feet, I believe. Someone can check me on this if they desire but I think it was even closer than that, maybe about 251 feet down the left-field line). When he moved from this park to Dodger Stadium, his numbers across the board improved quite a bit. So I think it was his maturation combined with a change in ballpark that turned Kofax into KOFAX.
Is there any track record that shows Peterson has the ability to correct pitchers? If he does have one, could someone please document this. Would the inability to correct Perez make this a bad trade, in the end? I was sorry to see Nady go but I don't think it will be detrimental to the Mets' chances for a good playoff run, no matter how Perez turns out.

I don't think it is a great trade but I don't think it is a bad trade, either. A trade made out of necessity when an unusal and sudden problem arose. I hope it all works out okay.

"We praise or blame as one or the other affords more opportunity for exhibiting our power of judgement." Friedrich Nietzsche, "All Too Human" (1878)

by wgarrett on Aug 1, 2006 4:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Koufax, Trade

What many people fail to mention about Kofax is the fact that, along with his maturation, there was a change in ballpark that helped him become "Kofax". LA Coliseum was a tough park for a lefty because the left-field fence was very close (about 300 feet, I believe. Someone can check me on this if they desire but I think it was even closer than that, maybe about 251 feet down the left-field line). When he moved from this park to Dodger Stadium, his numbers across the board improved quite a bit. So I think it was his maturation combined with a change in ballpark that turned Kofax into KOFAX.

You're sort of right. The interesting point in Koufax's career is 1961, his last season at the Coliseum. The previous year Koufax went 8-13, with a 3.91 ERA (102 ERA+) and 100 walks in 175 IP. In 1961, Koufax went 18-13 with 96 walks in 256 IP in a slightly tougher league context (giving him a 124 ERA+). The real difference was a major improvement in his command.

The next year he got even better, in part because of the move to Dodger Stadium and in part because he was just better. His ERA+ numbers from 1963 onward: 143, 161, 187, 160, 190. And that takes into account league/ballpark contexts.

Each year saw further improvement in control, more or less. In 1960, Koufax's BB/9 was 5.14; in 1965-6, it was 2.02.

by Blackfish on Aug 1, 2006 6:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

One more thing

Sorry, I should have nested all this underneath wgarrett's comment.

As for whether the trade is a good one or not, I agree it's not a great one. No one's being stolen for nothing here, not really. Nady a decent player, and Perez carries a lot of risk. That said, I do think it's a very smart maneuver on Minaya's behalf. It gives the Mets something for the present and something for the future, and Hernandez was necessary. Furthermore, Nady had little in the Mets' future, and is really a very average and flawed player. He hits for power, but his contact skills are wanting, he doesn't walk very much, he doesn't field well, he doesn't run well, and he has trouble against righties.

I have no idea if Peterson can help him. Is it a bad trade for the Mets even if Perez doesn't work out? Not really. A year or two from now, nobody's likely to be saying, "I sure do miss Xavier Nady." And if Perez does work out, it'll be remembered as a steal.

by Blackfish on Aug 1, 2006 6:36 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree it was a pretty good trade

the key being Perez, although it's not an awful trade if he doesn't work out.

What I'm trying to figure out is if there was a 24-year old pitcher in the Mets' system with Perez's stuff who had the same track record, would I be excited about him? (and would I be upset if the Mets traded him away for a good but low-ceiling OF/1B.) In both cases I think the answer is yes.

Personally I am sad to see X go (not as sad as my wife, who let out a string of unrepeatable French expletives when she found out), but it is good to see the Mets thinking ahead. Perez could easily be an important rotation cog sooner rather than later, and it's not as if he is set to make big bucks in arbitration.

the irony is that only the Mets "play for the now" and trade away Jason Bay and Scott Kazmir when they are 6 games out of the wild card but then make a "move for the future" (although I understand the importance of replacing Sanchez too) when they are 15 games up in the BEast.

"Let us go forth awhile, and get better air in our lungs. Let us leave our closed rooms... The game of ball is glorious." - Walt Whitman

by hugo on Aug 2, 2006 1:29 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Not a good Mets start for Perez

From the Norfolk Tides site:

Tides' starter Oliver Perez (1-4) struggled in his organizational debut, allowing seven runs on six hits in 2.2 innings of work. The 24-year-old, who was obtained in a trade with the Pittsburgh organization on July 31, struck out four and walked four as the Tides dropped their fifth straight game to begin a seven-game road trip.

by erich11226 on Aug 5, 2006 6:51 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs