Ollie gets a raise for his 10 wins. A significant raise. (Photo by The Associated Press.)
It's a strange world where fans have no choice but to rejoice over their team spending $12 million a year for a guy who went 10-7 last season.
But that's the world Mets fans find themselves living in, after a mostly positive reaction to the Mets re-signing of Oliver Perez to a three-year, $36 million deal on Tuesday.
Everything's relative, of course, and if the Mets missed out on Ollie, they were going to be forced into Randy Wolf territory and that's when the upside just starts to dwindle. Ollie has upside. And the Mets are paying for that upside. Handsomely.
It still can't be ignored that the Mets made the same offer to an admittedly older yet more consistent pitcher whose ERA was a point better, whose WHIP was three-tenths of a point lower and who walked 60 less batters in 17 more innings. Yes, Derek Lowe would have been better, but it's pretty clear by his actions that this is how Omar Minaya preferred the situation turn out.
And if Ollie reaches his lofty potential in the next three year, Minaya will look like a genius. But really, the Mets and their fans simply have to hope Ollie is better than he was in '08. Then Minaya will still look good.
As will the team.