Mets release Perez

As it is in life, it’s very difficult to get someone to hand you $12 million to do something. To do anything, really. So when someone tells you that they are willing to pay you $12 million and have you do absolutely nothing in return, that’s saying something.

And that’s essentially what the New York Mets have told Oliver Perez. They released the struggling left hander today, still owing him $12 million.

Perez was a question mark coming into Mets camp, and that just illustrates what a stupid idea it was to give him a three-year, $36 million deal in the first place back in 2009. He’d been effective at times, but overall was maddeningly inconsistent.

He did nothing to help himself this spring. He allowed nine earned runs in 9 2/3 innings of Grapefruit League work.

Perez is now free to pursue a life of religious fulfillment.