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Former Wizards Pitcher, Oliver Perez Returning to Mets
By Chad Gramling | January 13, 2007
Former Fort Wayne Wizards pitcher turned post-season surprise, Oliver Perez, has agreed to a one-year contract with the New York Mets, which is worth $2,325,000.
With injuries to key starters during the post-season, Perez became only the second pitcher with a regular-season record of 10 games under .500 to start a postseason game. With New York trailing 2 games to 1 in the National League championship series, Perez helped the Mets secure a 12-5 victory in Game 4. He started game seven of the series after allowing just one run and four hits over six innings. The Mets ultimately lost the game 3-1.
With the Mets rotation still filled with question marks, Perez (who made $1.9 million last season) is expected to compete for one of the starting spots.
In 2001, Perez went 8-5 with a 3.46 ERA as a starter for the Wizards. He struck out 98 in 101 1/3 IP. At the time, he was rated the #18 prospect in the Midwest League by Baseball America.
In 2003, San Diego sent Perez and Jason Bay to the Pirates for Brian Giles in a major deal. The Mets acquired Perez last July from the Pirates along with reliever Roberto Hernandez for Xavier Nady. Over seven regular season starts, Perez went 1-3 with a 6.38 for the Mets. Overall, he was 3-13 with a 6.55 ERA in 22 2006 starts.
More info at: YahooSports | MLB.com
[tags]Oliver Perez, Pirates, Mets, Jason Bay, Midwest League, Baseball America, Padres, Brian Giles, Xavier Nady, Trades, MLB[/tags]
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