Oliver Perez

As the year of "Perpetual Pedro" and surprising consistency from Hisanori Takahashi is over, the New York Mets are once again on the look out for bullpen help this upcoming season.

Free-agent names have been floating around, but as per GM Sandy Alderson, “You shouldn’t expect us to come back with a high-profile trophy.”

The Mets are closer to being a contending team than you may think.  The incoming GM could make these simple and, perhaps more importantly, cheap changes to have them competing next year and for years to come.

As baseball fans know the Omar Minaya era has came to an end in New York after six years.  Though the Mets had one of the highest payrolls when Minaya was in office the team never really established themselves other than in 2006. 

As a Mets fan, I must say Omar did bring us some good times but he definitely brought us some bad times.  Minaya brought in the likes of Johan Santana and Carlos Beltran but on the other end he also brought in the likes of Luis Castillo and Oliver Perez. 

The New York Mets finish their season tomorrow, which is a relief for the fans who have suffered with this team the whole season, one injury and non-baseball headline after another has ravaged this team.

While there is plenty of blame to go around, most of it falls on the players who did not execute or consistently play hard or smart fundamental baseball.  Many changes are expected to be made to the roster and very few people are guaranteed jobs entering next season.

Another baseball season is nearing its conclusion and for the fourth consecutive October, the New York Mets are absent.  With the front office sending out signs that the team will not make a big free agent splash this offseason, many fans are depressed.

Many have given up on the Mets' 2011 season already, but there are certain things that the team has in place that should keep fans optimistic.

Here are the top five reasons to believe that it will be different for the Mets in 2011.

I have a few choice words for the New York Mets. In particular three specific players that did not partake in a life-changing experience. Those players are Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez, and Luis Castillo. They recently denied the chance to take part in visiting wounded veterans to thank them for their service.

The choice words: solidarity, brotherhood, camaraderie, unity, and one accord.

The Mets have failed to reach the World Series since they did so in 2000.  Although they have lacked talent in some of the years since then, it hasn't all been self inflicted.  There have been some players that have just killed this team over the last ten seasons.

Here is a list of the top five players that have beaten the Mets up over the pat ten seasons.

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If you're a Mets fan, you are familiar with heartache. The very term "Mets fan" is synonymous with pain. This trade deadline has brought us too many moments of agony to rehash, but there are several that stick out in the collective memory of the fan of the Mets. These trades are the lemon juice in a cut type of transaction. They were the ones that really stung.

Basbeall analyst Ken Rosenthal reported Sunday that the New York Mets and the Kansas City Royals are in talks about trading Oliver Perez to Kansas City.

In return, the Mets would get veteran pitcher Gil Meche, who is currently rehabbing after his injury.

This trade would be dead even if it is made, as both are in their last year in their contracts, with each left with $12 million.

Not only is that situation similar, stats wise, too.

Perez and Meche are both 0-4, and their ERAs are hovering around above 6.

The New York Mets are about to make Oliver Perez the most expensive left-handed specialist in the history of the game. The Mets will activate Perez from the 15-day DL today and will use him primarily as a left-handed specialist.

Despite having to pay Perez $12 million this year and $11 million next year, it’s actually not a bad idea for the Mets.

Is Perez one of the top-five most overpaid players in the game?

Absolutely.