The Mets trimmed down their roster by one today, releasing LHP Oliver Perez and eating the $12 million remaining on his contract. The move comes three days after unpopular 2B Luis Castillo (owed $6 million) was also released. The release had been expected since the end of the 2010 season, but Perez still had the potential to win a job in the wide-open bullpen scenario that has developed for the Mets, making his Spring Training contributions worthwhile.
After signing his three-year $36 million contract following the 2008 season, Perez arrived at Team Mexico's camp during the 2009 World Baseball Classic horribly out of shape. Last season, he vehemently refused an assignment to the Minor Leagues and forced then-manager Jerry Manuel to play with a 24-man roster. By October 2010, the consensus was that his days as a Met were just about over.
Perez was given every chance to win a job as a lefty specialist or as a long reliever in camp but failed miserably. Although Castillo was a good option at second base on paper, Perez was never a front runner to break camp with the 2011 Mets. The next step for him now is late-Spring free agency.
The future isn't entirely bleak for Perez, as he does have a 200-strikeout season under his belt. Teammates were unsurprised yet disappointed about his release, a clubhouse favorite. Despite all of his faults in the latter half of his Mets career, the first half of his tenure with the Mets was marked by undisputed successes.
Those successes and the potential for more was the reasoning behind the hefty contract he failed to live up to. Now Perez is gone, as GM Sandy Alderson continues to remove the legacy of former GM Omar Minaya during his first year as the head honcho.
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