I have been having computer issues for the last two weeks, and they have finally be resolved, so I can go back to regular posting. In this absence, unlike my previous one this past month, something actually happened as the Mets signed Oliver Perez to a three year deal with that fourth year option. The Mets spent around 36 to 44 on the deal, which could have been the amount they could have spent to get Lowe. Knowing this, I am still not opposite about the Mets keeping Perez, which is weird, because I thought I would really be upset with this move. What it comes down to though is a combination of age, rival expericence, and a pitchers ballpark.
Perez is young, a lot younger than Lowe. So it goes without any real expert analysis that signing him to a 4 year deal would make sense over signing Lowe to one on strictly an age issue. On the rival issue, for some reason he can pull out all of the stops when playing the Phillies, which makes him a force in the NL East, and probably a needed a component of this team. These two arguments are nice, but they do not gurantee different results from the previous years. What will make Perez better this year than last year?
The answer to that is simply Citi Field. The the designers, when trying to make a pitchers park, went a little crazy and the result was a field where either every part was actually deeper (despite the dimensions) or in the slightly, and I mean slightly, more shallow parts, there is an 18 foot wall. Perez can't stop the bleeding when it starts, and it usually starts with a hit here or there and then a big homer. That would be a thing of the past because not many homers are going to be hit in Citi Field. As long as he has good fielding behind him, and the Mets are a historically good defense squad, then his numbers will look much better this year (he's a flyout pitcher, thats the main argument here). As a side note argument, we are also hoping that Maine does better this year, because if he does, then Perez could be the number 3 starter, or maybe 4 behind Pelfrey as well. There will be ways of taking the pressure off.
