What Should the Mets Do With Oliver Perez?

Oliver Perez is quickly becoming the new Luis Castillo. Last year, Mets fans and journalists routinely ridiculed Mets GM Omar Minaya for giving Castillo a lucrative four-year deal worth $25 million. This season, Minaya is drawing similar criticism for the three-year, $36 million deal that he gave to Perez. It’s hard to back Minaya up on this signing as Perez has been pretty much awful this season. However, count me in as one of those who were in favor of signing Perez over the other pitcher, Derek Lowe, whom the Mets coveted this past off-season. On paper it seemed like the better route to go. Perez, who turns 28 today, is a full eight years younger than Lowe and was already familiar with pitching in the electric atmosphere in New York City. However, the signing turned out to be anything but perfect for the Mets. When not on the disabled list, Ollie has proven to be vastly ineffective in his starts. With the Mets falling further into irrelevance, it is time to look to 2010 and...