The end came with little suspense.
Oliver Perez walked into the Mets’ clubhouse shortly after 8 a.m. Monday knowing he had been summoned to the executive offices. He spent less than 10 minutes in a meeting with General Manager Sandy Alderson, said quick goodbyes to a handful of teammates, spoke to reporters, then left in a car driven by an associate who had waited the 20 minutes for Perez to conduct his final business after four and a half years with the Mets.
When Alderson explained last week why he released Luis Castillo, he noted that the negative reaction Castillo engendered from fans was a factor.
Mets fans were unkind to Castillo, but they were downright venomous toward Perez, a pitcher so unpopular that the idea that he could return to the club this season was untenable, no matter how well he pitched in spring training.
But in discussing why he followed suit with Perez and released him, too, Alderson said the fans’ revulsion for Perez was not a factor the way it was with Castillo.
Castillo, Alderson said, still had enough skill left that there was a debate, making fan reaction a deciding factor. With Perez, a 29-year-old left-hander, it never went that far. His talent had eroded so significantly since 2007 that the issue of how he would be received by fans was irrelevant.
“The velocity wasn’t there, the command wasn’t there,” said Alderson, who is in his first year with the Mets. “We really didn’t have to go too far beyond that to make a decision.”
The Mets, who owe Perez $12 million for this season, were desperate to disassociate themselves from as many reminders as possible of the painful recent past. They finally consummated the inevitable Monday morning when they released Perez 72 hours after doing the same with Castillo.
Even though everyone, including Perez, surely expected the move, he said it was still hard to hear the actual words, which he referred to as a firing even though he will receive all $12 million he has guaranteed on his contract for 2011.
“Sometimes you might know before, but when they tell you, it doesn’t feel great,” he said as he choked up slightly. “I think when you get fired from anywhere, you feel sad. It’s not a good moment. But you have to be stronger, you know, and my life is not done, so I have to move on.”
The Mets acquired Perez and Roberto Hernandez on July 31, 2006, in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates for Xavier Nady. Perez’s highlight as a Met came that postseason, when he started Game 7 of the National League Championship Series and limited the St. Louis Cardinals to one run in six innings of a 3-1 loss.
Perez won 25 games over the next two years and was rewarded by the former general manager Omar Minaya after the 2008 season with a three-year, $36 million contract. The deal has been widely criticized since, but it was eagerly approved by the entire Mets front office, including ownership.
Perez dealt with physical problems the past two seasons. Last year, he exacerbated fans’ distaste for him when he refused a minor league assignment, as was his right, that would have opened a roster spot for a more productive pitcher and given him a chance to improve in a less pressurized environment.
After Perez went 0-5 with a 6.80 earned run average last year, then struggled over the winter while pitching in Mexico, his chances of staying with the Mets seemed nonexistent. The Mets had decided before spring training that Perez and Castillo would be released unless they had exceptional recoveries.
Castillo, 35, showed enough to be signed by the Philadelphia Phillies after the Mets released him.
Perez, however, appears to have little left. With his career on the line, he compiled an 8.38 E.R.A. in seven appearances in spring training. With that, he had no complaints on the day he left.
“They gave me an opportunity,” he said. “They were fair with me. I went to the bullpen to try and be a lefty specialist, and the last game, I did a horrible job and that’s why they decided to release me.”
Manager Terry Collins said he understood the fascination with Perez and Castillo, but added, “It’s time to move on.”
“It’s time to turn the page,” he said, “and now let’s talk about who is going to be here and what this club is going to be about.”
Perez’s final regular-season appearance with the Mets summed up his final years in Queens. In the 14th inning of last season’s finale, against the Washington Nationals, he hit a batter, then walked three, forcing in the go-ahead run in a 2-1 loss.
He trudged off the Citi Field mound, the sound of voracious booing in his ears. On Monday, he and his friend drove away in silence. (New York Times)
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