One of the most knowledgable baseball bloggers whom focuses on the Mets in Mets Today’s Joe Janish. His daily notes are probably read by some of the beat writers. Here’s his take on Oliver Perez’ start yesterday:

Perez took another step backward. Although he allowed “only” three runs and struck out 7 in five frames, he also walked 5 and allowed 6 hits (including one homerun). On several occasions Ollie “improvised” on the mound, playing cowboy and dropping down laredo style for reasons unknown. At least a dozen of his 112 pitches were a good six feet out of the strike zone, and had Brian Schneider scrambling. It was a minor miracle that he threw only one wild pitch and allowed only three runs (and I’m still trying to figure out how he didn’t hit at least two batters). There were several spots where a more disciplined team would have mounted a 3- or 4-run rally.

I long ago stopped wishing Ollie would find his inner Sid Fernandez, who was so much more cocnsistent than Perez could ever hope to be.

Posted under Uncategorized

The Mets saw exactly what they wanted to in Oliver Perez yesterday and in the mean time learned alot about him.

Perez is a “hand’s on” pitcher in that likley thrives in a controlled, structured environment. After his last start was so universally and publically condemned, Perez responded with the sort of dominate performances the Mets and likely the Pirates always expected from him. Consistency is performance has been the key. The largess of the stage also is factor that affects Perez as demonstrated in his performances at Yankee Stadium.

So what to do now?

Hopefully after this week Johan Santana emerges as a role model for Perez whom will begin to model his work ethic and preperation. If Santana has this kind of influence, Perez won’t want to disappoint him.

Dan Warthen has shown he’s not afraid of being hard on his guys – and in the media, too. I hope this does not become a habit of Warthen as it will backfire in an extremely dangerous way at some point. Still, if Warthen motivates in a manner in balance with staying on his ass, this combination with Santana can be a productive one for Perez.

Posted under Uncategorized

The addition of the one-time ace to the Mets rotation is suddenly taking on an intensity than either the Derek Lowe affair and the emerging dance with Scott Boras and Ollie Perez. Sheets is cheaper and may be worthy of the gamble with potential upsides off-the charts. A near top form Sheets provides the club almost a co-number one with Santana and puts less pressure of a recovering John Maine and maturing Mike Pelfrey. The potential drama of Perez is eliminated and a seasoned Tim Redding is the 5th starter. Jon Niese gets to start at Buffalo alongside Bobby Parnell. Maybe Parnell gets some bullpen time.

The capital saved from a Sheets signing may allow the club a wack at Pudge Rodriguez and another deal to alter the lineup like for Orlando Hudson.

There’s less money being spent this off-season and slowing things down. Maybe the Mets see that Niese can replace Perez’s work soon enough and Sheets is well worth the chance.

Sheets over Perez for me.

lowe

Posted under Uncategorized