Perez Shows He’s Not Team Player
The Oliver Perez decision was made late yesterday. But it was not the decision that the front office probably would have liked. Manager Jerry Manuel has said that the team did not ask Perez to accept a minor league assignment. If this is the case I have to believe that they didn’t ask because they assumed, based on comments Perez made publicly on Sunday about not wanting to go the minors.
I can understand the personal reasons for not wanting to go down to the minors. You’ve worked your whole life to get to the majors and to a point in your career where you feel you have earned a right not to go back to the minors. And, in fact, according to league rules, Ollie has earned this right by having 5 years of major league experience. But anyone who has ever played team sports knows about team work and how important it is to be a team player. Oliver Perez is not being a team player.
Manuel has said that “He won’t be the first guy I call” and “It’ll be a tough challenge for us as a staff to make sure we are trying to get him back on track.” This means that Perez will probably not get regular work out of the pen and will actually be a burden on his team as there will need to be an adjustment to the team approach to find opportunities to get him into the game.
Had Perez been willing to accept a move to the minors he would have followed in the footsteps of former Met Steve Trachsel and, more notably, Philadelphia’s Brett Myers. Myers spent nearly a month in the minors and came back to post a 7-4 record with a 3.06 ERA. This improved on the earlier part of the year when he had a 3-9 record with a 5.84 ERA. Besides the improvement shown after their trips to the minors Trachsel and Myers proved that they were team players by not exercising their right to refuse a minor league assignment and allowing their teams to operate without the distraction of having a special needs player in their midst.
Perez, on the other hand, would rather pitch sparingly out of the bullpen, a role that is quite different than starting, and possibly be a detriment to his team than take a few weeks to start in a less pressure filled environment. What has Perez got to gain by this approach beyond the possibility of angering fans and alienating teammates?
When all is said and done if Perez returns to the rotation and has some success later in the year all will be forgotten by the fans who will be appreciative that he’s back and making a positive contribution. His teammates will also be appreciative of a positive contribution but his selfishness will always stay in their minds and could poison them in their dealings with him in the future.
If you enjoyed this post, please consider to leave a comment or subscribe to the feed and get future articles delivered to your feed reader.
Comments
No comments yet.
Sorry, the comment form is closed at this time.