Mets Worst Free-Agent Signing No. 3: Óliver Pérez

Oliver Perez.

This off-season, we’re looking at the Mets’ history with free agency. The regrettable list includes names like James McCann, Jed Lowrie, and most recently Kaz Matsui. Next is a left-handed pitcher who made a notable stop in New York on his long (and to this day still active) baseball journey. 

For Mets’ fans who needed a reminder of one of the team’s worst decisions this century, all you had to do was scan the league’s relief pitchers up until a couple of years ago. Through perseverance and the good fortune of having a left arm, Óliver Pérez’s baseball playing days are still going. Incredible considering how long ago he played for New York and how badly it went.

Arriving to the Mets in a 2006 trade-deadline deal, Pérez emerged as a key figure in a critical situation. As he was sent  into the starting rotation during the postseason and it served himself well. 

Pérez was at times erratic while at times showing signs of promise. Before the Mets brought him back on a three-year, $36-million deal in February 2009, he had a 3.91 ERA and 109 ERA+. In the two years after signing that contract, he had a 6.81 ERA and a 59 ERA+.

He certainly outperformed his initial role. In a deal with the Pittsburgh Pirates that brought reliever Roberto Hernandez and sent away utility outfielder Xavier Nady, Pérez had potential yet was placed in the minors. Injuries to starting pitchers made him a central figure during the playoffs. 

He made two starts in the NLCS against the Cardinals. New York’s offense broke out in Game 4 and made life easier for the young lefty. He also got the ball in Game 7. His final line showed an impressive one earned run over six innings, but he’ll always have Endy Chavez to thank for that.

Beginning in 2007, Pérez saw more starting assignments. While sometimes good and occasionally very good, consistency was not part of his profile. He countered scoreless innings with one-inning implosions. He countered solid starts with control issues. Pérez walked 79 batters in 2007 and topped the majors with 105 in 2008.

Pérez, at age 27, hit free agency after the 2008 season. He stayed on the market for much of the winter until choosing to take the Mets’ offer of $12-million per year. Maybe the inconsistencies would be ironed out. Maybe the control issues would be resolved as he matured. Though, the initial impression was that this was an overpay. Before long, it became an egregious overpay.

Pérez made just 21 starts over the remainder of his time with the Mets, thanks mostly to being hurt and struggling immensely. His setback was one of many disasters that comprised a brutal 2009 season in Queens.

In 14 outings, he walked 58, allowed 12 homers, and had a 6.82 ERA. It only got worse. Pérez began 2010 without a win in seven starts, walking 28 in 33 1/3 innings. The Mets demoted him to the bullpen. Once that didn’t solve his issues, they were prepared to send him down. Pérez initially refused the minor-league assignment, but eventually relented. His return to the majors went much like the rest of the year and his final ERA was nearly identical to what it was in 2009.

The Mets determined they were better off paying him to not be on the roster, and in March 2011 he was released with the final year remaining on his contract.

To his credit, Pérez transformed himself into a reliable reliever for five different big-league clubs. In 2021 and 2022, he pitched for the Toros de Tijuana in his native Mexico — out of the majors, but still pitching. Considering his MLB ERA for the final 11 seasons was lower than it was in New York, the reinvention of Óliver Pérez certainly came at the expense of the Mets.

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