Signed, sealed, delivered. Almost. (Photo by The Associated Press.)
As I said this morning, it's February and time for the Mets to get down to business. The Mets apparently did just that, as WFAN is reporting the Mets have reached an agreement with their free-agent lefty Oliver Perez.
I'm on my mobile at the moment but will be back later with more analysis and the key details. but on the surface, this is good news for Mets fans.
UPDATE (5:28 p.m.) -- Well, the deal appears to be three years and $36 million, according to Joel Sherman of the New York Post. So yes, the Mets ended up paying an extra $2 million per year because they let the Braves swoop in and steal all their leverage when they signed Derek Lowe.
Still, $12M per for three is significantly less than $15M per for four, which is what the Braves had to dole out. Obviously, he's the better pitcher and deserves more than the walk machine that is Ollie Perez. But the Mets at least can spin things that they committed only a little more than half of what they would have had to in order to land Lowe. It's spin, but there's probably a point there somewhere.
UPDATE (5:34 p.m.) -- What's also interesting about this deal is that the Mets only had to go three years. Ever since Lowe got the fourth year from the Braves, I've been pretty sure Scott Boras would force whoever signed Ollie into a fourth year.
However, as it turns out, it reportedly was Boras and Ollie who shied away from the fourth year. Sherman reports the Mets wanted to do some iteration of a four-year, $44 million deal, which would drop the annual value to $11M, but give the pitcher another year. And that's the part Boras didn't want. The theory seems to be that Ollie can hit the market again in three years as only a 30-year old, which is more marketable than a 31-year old.
And let's face it, if the economy is in worse shape in three years than it is now, we're probably all going to be worried about things other than the Mets rotation.
UPDATE (5:46 p.m.) -- The Associated Press is reporting the physical will be Tuesday.