Oliver Perez a better option for Mets than Derek Lowe

Oliver Perez is 27 years old. Derek Lowe is 35 years old. There are reports surfacing that Omar Minaya prefers Oliver Perez and some others in the front office would rather have Derek Lowe. At this time, the Mets are primarily pursuing Lowe with Perez as the first fallback. Perez would produce a couple of draft picks if he were to sign elsewhere because of his type A status. Lowe would cost the Mets a pick.

Lowe is more seasoned, strong in the post season, and consistent from start to start. In 34 starts this past season, Lowe went 7 innings or more 15 times. While he does not strikeout a ton of hitters, he gets his share and has an excellent walk rate of less than 2 per 9 innings.

Perez, however, is still working on the consistency. He has the ability to shut teams down like an ace (June 29th against the Yanks 7 innings, one run, no bb's, 8 k's) or get knocked out of the box like a clueless rookie (June 2nd against the Giants 1/3 of an inning, 6 runs, 2 hr's). In 34 starts this year, Perez went 7 or more innings only 7 times.

So, based on the above stats, why would I suggest the Mets go for Perez instead of Lowe? Well, I have a couple of reasons. First, Perez is 8 years younger while still not a new guy on the block. At only 27, Perez already has 7 full seasons under his belt. He would seem to be able to turn the corner as he moves into the middle part of his career. This is a similar point at which many pitchers begin to solidify their careers. Also, he has established himself enough so that it should be safe to assume he would not get worse. There is a track record of moderate to high success. He has great stuff and he is left handed as well. Without Perez, the Mets have Johan Santana as the only left-handed starter on the team. I see this as a major negative not only for the Phillies being so lefty-stacked, but also for general rotation balance. Not that Lowe can't, but Perez is comfortable with New York and can handle the pressure. He will come cheaper per season than Lowe as well.

I am not saying to do this, but even if you gave Ollie a 6 year contract, he is still only 33 at the end of it. At this point, you aren't getting Lowe for less than a 3 year deal with an easily attained option 4th year. At the end of that deal, he is 39 years old. Finally, we know that Lowe will throw you 200 innings a year, but how long can he do that for? At this point Oliver Perez has thrown 999 innings in his career. Lowe has thrown twice that at 1940 innings. How many innings does he have in that arm? There is a good chance he could go another 4 years, but there is another chance that the innings catch up to him too.

Oliver Perez would seem to have the best part of his career in front of him I believe. He worked well with the new pitching coach Dan Wharthen this past season and having Johan Santana to watch and work with will not hurt either. Also, I feel like the trio of Perez, Pelfrey, and Maine can seemingly age together on the staff as a core of pitchers that could be together for some time. I really think it would be a mistake to let him go. He basically threw 200 innings last year (194) and has been really injury free except for a broken toe during a temper tantrum early in his career and a stiff back a couple years ago. If he leaves, he becomes another team's star.