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June 7, 2010 Mets 2010 Games John Fitzgerald

Quote of the Day: June 7, 2010

Perez during a rehab start in 2009

Earlier this afternoon, I posted a link to an interview with minor league pitching coach Jeff Andrews. Andrews was the minor league pitching coordinator with the Padres when Oliver Perez was in the organization. He obviously knows Ollie better than most.

Quote of the day:

“I don’t know that there’s many outside things that can cure him,” he said. “It’s very rare that he’ll take a cue from someone else.” – Jeff Andrews in The Wall Street Journal (June 7, 2010)

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John Fitzgerald is an independent film/TV producer. In 2007, he followed former Mets 2B Wally Backman and his minor league team for the TV show, "Playing for Peanuts." Click here for DVD ordering information NOTE: $5 from each sale goes to maintenance costs of MetsToday.com
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  1. Jazzy B June 7, 2010 at 7:52 pm
    That's a great post. Until it's raked over the coals, which it may be time for, I'll won't be sure what Ollie's deal is. I've always been under the impression that Ollie can't repeat his mechanics (arm slot, delivery). Imagine an actor who can't remember his lines. I didn't know he has a history of disregarding coaches advice.
  2. shea73 June 7, 2010 at 9:51 pm
    If Andrews is correct that Ollie is this emotionally unstable, stubborn and unreceptive towards help then he should be DFA'd immediately. He's hopeless, a complete waste of money and undeserving of a spot on any major or minor league squad..
  3. gary s. June 8, 2010 at 12:40 am
    and the genius minaya gave him 36 mill..and still has a job.. wish i could work for the wilpons
  4. isuzudude June 8, 2010 at 1:19 pm
    gary, that really isn't fair at all. after the Mets missed out on Derek Lowe prior to 2009, I don't think there was one person who objected to re-signing Oliver Perez. Was the price high? perhaps. But the Mets NEEDED a starter and Perez (and Boras) had Omar by the nay-nays.

    Plus, look back at Ollie's 2007 and 2008 seasons and tell me, for a guy still in his 20s and still featuring a 93-95 MPH fastball and a hard slider, how it would have been expected or predicted that Perez would have fallen into the abyss as he has the past 2 seasons? Did you see it coming? Did anyone? I doubt it.

    Believe me, Omar deserves his criticism. And he should definitely be on the hot seat. But the signing of Perez should not be one of the issues that results in Omar's unemployment. It was a necessary signing at the time and there were no signs that Perez would have regressed as much as we've seen.

  5. John Fitzgerald June 8, 2010 at 2:16 pm
    Disagree 'dude. Plenty of people thought bringing Perez back was a terrible idea. I'll let Joe speak for himself, but I definitely felt that way and I never felt like I was out on a limb with that opinion.
  6. John Fitzgerald June 8, 2010 at 2:20 pm
    It was April or May in 2008… Ollie was pitching a weekday afternoon game at Shea. I believe it was against the Pirates, but I could be wrong. His pitches and his body language were so awful that Willie simply left him out there to sit in his own mess. It was embarrassing to watch and I think Willie did the right thing.

    The memory is a bit hazy, but after that day I couldn't believe how anyone thought it was a good idea to sign a ticking time bomb like Perez to a multi-year contract. But Ollie will be back. He'll bounce back with another solid season for someone else and the cycle will repeat.

  7. isuzudude June 8, 2010 at 4:43 pm
    This is why I wish the comments sections of posts prior to the website design switch were still around. Because I could go back and see if people were happy or upset with the Perez re-signing. If my memory serves me correctly, I would say the majority of people here agreed with the re-signing, though weren't necessarily fond of the contract.

    I don't know how you could label Perez as a "ticking time bomb" prior to 2009. The guy just turned 27, presumably entering the 'prime' of his career. His previous 2 seasons with the Mets, he had started at least 29 games, had pitched at least 177 innings, had a combined ERA of less than 4.00, and averaged almost a strikeout per inning. Not to mention, as the 2008 season wrapped up, his last loss of the season came on August 3rd. That means he pitched almost 2 months without losing a game. This suggests he was pitching just as well and effectively as he had over the previous duration of his Mets' tenure leading into free agency. There were no mentions of injury and no stories of lack of desire or progression. So he was anything but a "ticking time bomb."

    Has he been suspect to the occasional blowup here and there? Of course. Probably more than most. But when you take his whole season and look at it all-combined, rather than examining one poor start on a random date in early-2008, you'd see he panned out to be a #3 caliber starting pitcher, which was what the Mets needed VERY badly prior to 2009, as Pedro Martinez had left as a free agent, John Maine was coming back from injury, and there was very little else of consistency behind Johan and Pelfrey (i.e. Tim Redding, Livan Hernandez, and Freddy Garcia). Thus the importance of bringing back a pitcher like Ollie.