Oliver Perez ended his disastrous season on a fitting note yesterday, coming into a 1-1 game in the 14th inning, striking out the first batter he faced, hitting the second batter he faced, and then handing out three straight walks, the last of which forced in the game-winning run with the bases loaded. Now, in fairness to Perez it was literally his first appearance in four weeks and he pitched in just three of the Mets’ final 57 games. And in fairness to the Mets, he finished the season 0-5 with a 6.80 ERA and more walks (42) than strikeouts (37) in 46 innings. Perez told reporters afterward that he plans to pitch winter ball in Mexico and wants to return to the Mets:
Obviously the Mets would love to part with Perez, but they owe him $12 million for next season and he’s been so bad that simply eating a big chunk of that salary probably won’t convince another team to take him off their hands. They may have to eat basically the entire $12 million. And it might be worth it.