There Will Be An Answer, Ollie P...

"For though they may be parted there is
Still a chance that they will see...
There will be an answer, Ollie P."

What has the Mets fan had to cheer about over the last two years? They have watched as an NLCS Game 7 loss laid the foundation for two consecutive divisional collapses, followed by two years of relative ineptitude. By relative, of course, I mean relative to the rest of the NL East besides the Washington Nationals. They have brought in stars, and have watched as these legitimate superstars physically break down on their watch (Delgado, Martinez, Santana, Reyes, Beltran to name a few).

They have sat through Willie Randolph losing the team’s respect, through Jerry Manuel not being able to put a sentence together, through Tony Bernazard taking his shirt off and challenging the team to a fight, to Omar Minaya stammering in his defense as he “scapegoated” Adam Rubin for the Mets problems.  

"That's not....what I'm saying is...I'm saying that...what I'm saying is..."

Now, the Mets fan can finally get behind something that is worth cheering for. Sandy Alderson and Terry Collins have done what most Mets fans have craved for many years. Is there a Mets fan out there who didn’t, upon buying MLB 11 The Show, immediately cut Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo? I know that would be therapeutic for me if I were a Mets fan.

These two have consistently been lumped together as the poster children for the Mets ineptitude, which is actually unfair to Luis Castillo.

LUIS CASTILLO’S METS EULOGY

Castillo came to the Mets as an aging, yet still somewhat productive, veteran player. He is more a product of diminishing skills due to age than anything else. When you are a speed guy (370 career steals) and your legs go, it's bad news for your career. Everyone in the Mets organization will testify that he says the right things and works hard at what he does. He hit .302 with 20 steals and 77 runs scored in 2009. Not terrible for a second baseman. I feel badly for him that his signature moment as a Met is dropping a popup that cost them a game against the Yankees.

If you missed this game, tune in to the YES network. It is replayed as a Yankees Classic every three days or so.

The bottom line on Castillo as a player is that he has been a very solid everyday player who sometimes played at an All-Star level. He has 1900 hits, a .290 career average, the aforementioned steals, and 1,000 runs scored. Not to mention, he possesses a pair of Florida Marlins World Series Rings from 1997 and 2003. Although, he was really only a major contributor in the 2003 run.

OLLIE P’S METS EULOGY

Oliver Perez is on a completely different level. Perez showed early promise in San Diego before throwing up 5+ ERA numbers and being traded to Pittsburgh. He reclaimed his promise there for a year (12-10, 2.98), before repeating his career collapse in (5.85, 6.63 ERA’s last two years in Pittsburgh).

You know what they say….”Fool me once, shame on you….Fool me twice….ya’ can’t get fooled again” – unless you are the Mets.

G-Dubbs knows the deal....How come the Mets didn't?

Perez, as he has done in SD and PIT before, had 1 ½ good years with the Mets when he first joined them. And I use the term “good” inclusively. (15-10 3.56 & 10-7 4.22). Someway, somehow, the Mets thought this warranted a 3 year-$36million contract. Sometimes, it pays to have a pulse and throw left-handed.

Since signing, he has been accused of being lazy. He has come to camp overweight and out of shape. He refused an assignment to the minor leagues last year when the Mets wanted to send him down, opting instead to collect splinters while taking up a roster spot in the bullpen. Unlike Castillo, whose demise was more or less out of his own hands, Perez had a chance to do things differently. Instead, he chose to collect his $36-million and sit on it.

Ollie P opted for the glory and honor of a bullpen role over a minor league assignment. Because every team needs a lefty specialist who only comes in when the score differential is +/- 5 runs.

At 29 years old, I would almost expect him to sign on with another team, experience some success at some point, and then return to his dysfunctional self.

Finally, in throwing a bone to my cherished Mets fan friends, I’ve included a link to the 40-man roster of the Mets, so that you can look it over and relish the absence of LHP Oliver Perez and IF Luis Castillo:

http://newyork.mets.mlb.com/team/roster_40man.jsp?c_id=nym