Would Mets Fans Accept An Oliver Perez Reunion?

In Game 7 of the 2006 NLCS, it would have been hard to believe that Oliver Perez would one day become a Mets pariah. That notion seemed all the more far-fetched after Perez delivered a strong 2007 season, and then doing all he could to help prevent the Mets from having a second straight collapse in the final game played at Shea Stadium.

But that wasn’t the whole of Perez’s tenure with the Mets. He then signed a big free agent deal with the Mets which totally blew up as most expected it would. The Mets would eventually shut him down in 2010 after he publicly refused a minor league assignment and alienating many of his teammates. The final indignity was throwing Perez into the 14th inning of the final game of the season. After hitting a batter he then walked the next three, giving the Nationals a 2-1 lead and invoking a chorus of boos and jeers from the Mets faithful.

Perez was eventually released, spent the 2011 season in the minors, and he would re-emerge as a left-handed reliever. Surprisingly, he’d become a pretty good one.

Over the past seven seasons, Perez has made 397 appearances out of the bullpen, pitching to a 3.47 ERA, 1.276 WHIP, 116 ERA+, and a 11.0 K/9. During that span, he is in the top 10 among relievers in both K/9 and strikeout rate.

While he struggled to start the season with the Nationals in 2018, he rediscovered himself with the Indians and in 51 games with Cleveland, he posted a sterling 1.39 ERA to go with a 0.742 WHIP and 12.0 K/9.

If his name was Oscar Palmer instead of Oliver Perez, most fans would probably be very interested in him. Instead of seeing Ollie, they would see a cheap left-handed reliever who could contribute in their bullpen.

But as we saw with Bobby Bonilla returning to the Mets in 1999, many Mets fans cannot and will not forget. The shame of it is Perez could actually be a solid option in the Mets bullpen next year. Hopefully, whoever the Mets get instead of Perez is going to be just as cost effective and equally or more reliable. And at least he wont garner the same visceral reaction as Oliver Perez would from some Mets fans.