I was listening to Mike Francesa last week, and he said that if Oliver Perez makes the 2011 Mets roster, the team is “lost”. Then he covered his butt by speculating “Well, what are they going to do with him with that contract?” The bottom line is that Francesa spun Perez like it was an obvious decision: the Mets should just cut Oliver Perez and eat millions of dollars. Every Mets fans agrees with this.
So sure enough, I read a newspaper article that shows the Mets are either 1) Giving Oliver Perez a chance to make the team or 2) Humoring Perez until he messes up in Spring Training, in which they will cut him (i.e. the Walking Dead Man approach). There’s still no telling what will happen if he has a good Spring Training.
I personally find the Walking Dead Man method deceptive. An analogy for it would be office politics in the real world: upper management has already made a decision to fire lay off someone but they don’t act upon it immediately out of fear, so they “wait until the right moment” when it won’t look obvious. If you’ve worked at a job like that, you know what I’m talking about.
I had the misfortune of being a middle manager and was in on those meetings where the owners told me someone was getting fired laid off “soon”, and when I went back on the production floor, I had to pretend I didn’t know. I realized no matter how hard the person worked, it didn’t matter, and the person should be looking for a new job NOW.
Speaking of dishonest Spring Training competition, Brian Cashman said that Joba Chamberlain has to work to “make the team”, as does any player that has minor league options.
Yeah, right.
It never fails to amaze me how General Managers and field managers act like certain players have to fight for their roster spot in Spring Training in a futile attempt to motivate them and “keep them honest”. The players in the clubhouse are probably laughing with Joba about it.
Joba Chamberlain, no matter how much he lives in the Bubble of Suck, is a made man and is coddled by the team. It’s more likely that he would be traded before he would be sent back to the minors. If the minor leagues were truly an option, he should have been sent down last year or the year before, like I had requested, so he could learn how to pitch.
When GM’s make iron clad statements yet don’t act upon it, they lose their authority with all the egg on their face.
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Good job flaming other with their bodies when you look like the freaking michelin man. Mr. Perez my favorite gossip blogger, this was the first time I heard your name – and i pray; the last.
*daps Joba Chamberlain and Rafael Soriano*
I figure the reason everyone is penciling in Sid as the No. 5 starter is because of our manager. LaRussa seems to have a rep (deserved or not) as a guy who favors older players. Remember that Albert Pujols had a great Spring Training in '01 and still only made the team because we needed someone to fill in while the immortal Bobby Bonilla was hurt.
I figure Reyes has to have a Spring Training about like Gibson's 1968, while Ponson pitches more like Brett Tomko of '03 to have any shot at take the spot from Sid.