Scott Boras Has a Book on Oliver Perez, It’s a Comedy

Superagent to the baseball stars, Scott Boras, likes to create "books" to pitch teams on his free agent clients. Sometimes he oversells.
To wit: The Scott Boras book on free agent Oliver Perez has hit bookstores, and with juicy chapters like, “Perez Is One of Baseball’s Top 5 Left-Handed Starting Pitchers,” and “Perez Dominates on the Biggest Stage,” it looks destined to be a bestseller. At least within the Perez family.

Not sure who else would be intrigued by a specious document that ranks Perez alongside Cy Young award winners aces like teammate Johan Santana, big fish CC Sabathia, as well as World Series MVP Cole Hamels. Hey, Mets fans: Ollie is just as good as them! (Incidentally, the fourth pitcher on this list is Cubs lefty Ted Lilly. Makes one wonder who his agent is.)

For those keeping score at home, this means Oliver Perez is definitively better than lefties such as: Scott Kazmir, John Lackey, John Lester, Eric Bedard, and likely 2008 AL Cy Young recipient Cliff Lee. This could make the meetings with the Mets a tad awkward, considering Minaya would have probably traded Ollie for any one of those guys in an instant.

Not to say that Boras is trying to sell a total lemon; Ollie has put in solid yeoman's work since coming to New York. And he's well deserving of chapter titles such as, "Durable Ollie" or maybe even, "Big Game Ollie."

The problem is the Boras Book probably doesn't have all the chapters needed tell the full story of Mr. Perez, sections like, "Ollie walks seven Phillies in one inning!" or "Ollie has a career losing record" or "Big Game Ollie's biggest game was saved by a miraculous catch from Endy Chavez, so he probably deserves a cut of your contract." are surely absent from the final edit.

And that's the narrative Mets fans are familiar with when it comes to the brief wondrous career of Oliver Perez: an erratic drama with highs and lows; moments of pride, followed by tears of uncontrollable sadness. Emphasis on the uncontrollable.

Because of that, if Boras is able to land a contract commensurate with Ollie's status as one of the best in baseball, it won't come from the Mets.