Oliver Perez Declines Arb Offer

I see the mets resigning him

so now with oliver being a type A free agent will we give up 2 picks if we sign him even tho he was a met?

I'm a huge Ollie fan, but I also have no problem seeing him walk. In a sense, targeting the young guy to overpay makes sense, but Ollie's so volatile. The Mets need sure things for a rotation that has only one. Maine's coming off a relatively poor year in which he really struggled to pitch deep. Pelfrey made a huge jump in total IP, and so you have to acknowledge that risk in planning for 2009, expecting another 200 IP of ERA<4.00 isn't reasonable. One or the other perhaps, but not both. And Niese is a borderline MLB ready #3 or #4 starter, but someone whose more likely to expose a shaky bullpen than protect it.

What this rotation needs isn't a Jekyll and Hyde, they need a workhorse who can help Santana in keeping the bullpen from being over-exposed. Ollie could be Tom Seaver or get pulled in the second inning on any given night. That kind of uncertainty makes sense for a rotation that has lots of stability built in, but little upside. The Mets are just the opposite, and they should handle Ollie accordingly. He's not worth the money he'll likely command to the Mets, and in a sense, by signing him, they actually lose TWO draft picks, the two picks they'd get if he signed anywhere else.