Starting Pitcher: The Cost of Oliver Perez
Last during Hot Stove on the MLB Network, 
SI.com’s Jon Heyman said the Rangers, Dodgers, Brewers and Cardinals are all in the market for a starting pitcher, ‘and so Oliver Perez will do better than people think.’
Ben Shpigel of the New York Times believes the Mets have not made an offer to Perez, despite what had been reported by Heyman, who said earlier in the week that Omar Minaya made a three-year offer.
…i was recently told the same thing by some one close to the team, and i notice other people writing the same…
…again, there may be some confusion about the definition of ‘offer.’ …seriously …it happens all the time… i’m starting to realize that half of what goes on in these reports comes down to interpretation, some times from the same source to different reporters… anyway, i’ll save that for another day…
Nevertheless, Shpigel says the Mets will make an offer to Perez in the next day or so – again, as has been similarly reported by other outlets.
…from what i can gather, Scott Boras can likely get a four-year, $48 million deal for perez, if not more… the thing is, while they may be open to giving him a four-year deal, i do not believe the Mets plan to offer perez more than they were rumored to have offered lowe, i.e., $12 million per season… i believe $12 million would be the absolute max… in other words, perez is far from a slam dunk…
…for what it’s worth, at the start of the off-season, i felt the Mets had zero intention of bringing perez back, despite reports that minaya preferred him to lowe – reports, by the way, that i believe have been overstated… they like perez, don’t get me wrong, i just feel lots of people in management still see him as too much of an unknown – emotionally and physically – and they’re not confident in what he’ll deliver in exchange for such a steep price tag…
By the way, also on the MLB Network, Heyman said the Mets may look at Ben Sheets or Randy Wolf, “if they don’t get Perez.”
Shpigel makes a similar comment, writing, “They are also weighing a run at Sheets, but are wary of his injury history.”
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