Oliver Perez May Be Worst Signing Of 2009

Ben Nicholson-Smith of MLBTR looked at some of the least successful signings of the off season last year. And there’s a good chance that Oliver Perez was the worst of them all. Here are the other candidates.

Oliver Perez – $36MM over three years – He allowed 51 runs in 66 innings for an ugly 6.82 ERA. Knee injuries shortened his season, but he still managed to walk 58 batters, almost one per frame.

Milton Bradley – $30MM over three years – The volatile outfielder saw his OPS tumble by over 200 points this year. His off-field antics led to a suspension and the Cubs will now try to find a taker for the 31-year-old.

Edgar Renteria – $18.5MM over two years, plus club option – Those who criticized the Giants for this deal appear to have been justified. Renteria hit just .250/.307/.328 and didn’t play good enough defense to make up for his struggles at the plate.

Jamie Moyer – $16MM over two years – To his credit, Moyer pitched over 150 innings for the defending champs. Still, do the Phils want to pay a hittable 47-year-old $8MM next year? Probably not.

Pat Burrell – $16MM over two years – It’s one thing for the Phillies to mis-spend, but the Rays don’t have money to throw around. Andrew Friedman envisioned more than a .382 slugging percentage when he signed Burrell last winter.

What do you think, was Oliver Perez the worst signing of the off season?

I’d have to say the answer is an unequivocal yes.

Perez has been a disaster from the day that deal was done. Even before he signed the deal, the Mets were bidding against themselves and could have stood firm on a two year $20 million dollar deal that would have been less painful, but Boras convinced them he had a secret team in the offing as he usually does when he senses little leverage. It worked and the Mets spilled out their wallets.

Perez than has the raisins to show up to spring training out of shape and in no condition to put in the same workouts as his teammates. and was often winded and watching from the sidelines.

His fling in the WBC made matters worse and only exposed how unfit he was for duty. By the end of his first month the Mets were yanking him from the rotation where he then hurts his knee and ends up on the DL.

While rehabbing in the minors, he had one disastrous outing after another, but he was healthy and the Mets had to activate him. He is activated and continues to walk batters at an alarming rate, and soon after, even his own teammates began questioning his demeanor. Eventually he aggravates the injury once again and is shut down for the season.