Big Apple Sports: All New York Sports. All The Time.

Since I am still numb from the Giants’ devistating loss to the Eagles this past weekend, I won’t get into anything having to do with them until some time later this week or early next week. So instead of talking about how bad Big Blue was, I will go off on my favorite topic to rant about since it seems they so often come up short, the New York Mets.

Fans are obviously very worked up over the fact that Omar Minaya could not come up big and sign Derek Lowe. I was definitely in the corner of bringing Lowe in, especially since he is a sinkerball pitcher much like Mike Pelfrey, and would have had the benefit of having tremendous defense behind him. He also could have even served as a mentor to Pelfrey about the ins and outs of being a sinkerballer. Whatever the case may be, the Mets weren’t willing to pony up to the Braves offer. And to be honest with you, I don’t blame them. 4 years and 60 million dollars is a heck of a lot of money to pay for a 36 year old pitcher, especially with the way the economy is going. I actually give Omar a little bit of dap for sticking to his guns and not overpaying for pitching when it isn’t necessary.

Oliver Perez now becomes the apple of Omar’s eye, and apparently has been so all along. I see where the love is coming from. Perez is 27 and a lefty who would bring some balance to a rotation that would have become primarily righty if Lowe was brought in. However, as Met fans well know, you can get one of two Ollies when he comes to the mound. There is Ollie, the big game pitcher, who is absolutely a shut down pitcher when everyone is counting on him, especially in games against the NL East and the Yankees in particular. On the flip side, then there is the Ollie who led the NL in walks last year, and who can self-implode at any time. Most of the time, you never know what you are going to get from Oliver, so its a risky proposition for Omar. I think he goes hard after Perez and gets him, but will it be worth it in the end?

Will Omar go after a high risk high reward guy like Ben Sheets? I hope so. Maybe you can use John Smoltz‘s contract with the Red Sox as a model for a contract for Sheets, where escalators are met for certain starts and innings pitched. I think a combo of Perez and Sheets would be absolutely awesome, and in the case that Sheets was hurt, a guy like Jon Neise could step in from the minors. If we bring both of these guys in as well, you can put newcomer Tim Redding in Darren Oliver’s old position as a long reliever/spot starter.

Omar will lock it up guys. He always has, so just sit back, relax, and enjoy our Damion Easley replacement, Alex Cora.