Oliver Perez Becomes A Rich Man…
Pitcher Oliver Perez won his salary arbitration case against the New York Mets on Friday and will be paid $6.5 million this year rather than the team’s offer of $4,725,000.
Read why the Mets wanted him to get less…
The young left-hander won his arbitration case Thursday in St. Petersburg when a three-judge panel decided his 15-10 record last season merited $6.5 million for this season, not the $4.725 million the Mets were offering.
The verdict produced a nearly 200 percent raise over Perez’s $2.325 million salary in 2007 and pushed the Mets’ payroll this season to around $145 million, but both sides were smiling afterward.
“I know it’s a business,” said Perez, who was excused to attend the four-hour hearing with his agent, Scott Boras. “That stuff is outside the game. Both sides have a job to do. There are no hard feelings.”
GM Omar Minaya agreed, saying he doesn’t consider the drastic step of an actual hearing will keep the Mets from re-signing the 26-year-old starter when he likely heads to free agency next winter.
“We’ll see what happens, but I don’t think it will impact his desire to stay with us,” said Minaya, who sought out Perez to shake his hand and offer congratulations yesterday in the clubhouse.
Assistant GM John Ricco said Boras used star young left-hander Erik Bedard - who recently landed a one-year, $7 million deal from the Mariners to avoid arbitration - as the heart of his case for Perez.
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