Another shrewd move in baseball dealings, either of which work out well for the Mets -- be it now or in the future.
Oliver Perez is a free agent, and tonight at midnight is the deadline for teams to offer one-year deals, at a much higher salary, to the free agents that filed from their team. If Perez accepts (don't count on it) the Mets have filled a hole in their starting rotation.
If he refuses, which will almost certainly happen, the Mets will receive first- and second-round draft picks as compensation for his Type A free agent status.
The Mets can do no wrong here. I'd like to see Perez back, but I know the team is going to have to pay through the nose for him since he's a Scott Boras client.
Outside of Perez, the Mets have two Type B players in Luis Ayala and Moises Alou. There's no word on whether they'll offer arbitration to either of these players. Ayala, if either, would be the only play I see here. I think Alou's days are done.
If the Mets do offer anything to Ayala, I hope he refuses, unless he's going to play for peanuts.
