Perez goes on DL with knee tendinitis; MLB to confirm medical records

Struggling Oliver Perez provided a convenient end to his standoff with the Mets over his refusal to accept a minor league assignment. He said he was injured.

Perez's surprising admission allowed the Mets to place him on the disabled list Saturday to make room for Jonathon Niese. The Mets said Perez showed up Friday complaining of discomfort in his surgically repaired right knee, and he was diagnosed with patella tendinitis after an MRI exam.

The curious timing of the injury and the circumstances surrounding it have caught the eye of Major League Baseball. According to a person familiar with the situation, the league is expected to ask to view those medical records to ensure that Perez is in fact injured, a practice MLB does from time to time during the regular season to keep tabs on roster moves.

Manager Jerry Manuel, asked if he understands that some might be skeptical of Perez's injury, insisted that it is not something manufactured by the team.

"This purely is Oliver Perez," Manuel said. "This is Oliver Perez coming in and saying his knee bothered him."

What makes this injury appear dubious on the surface is that Perez repeatedly has said all season that he's healthy, refusing to use an injury as an excuse for his poor performance.

The Mets don't deny that. Manuel said he learned of Perez's injury when he did his usual trainer's room visit Friday afternoon and saw Perez in there.

"I asked him what was the matter, and he said, 'My knee is bothering me,' " Manuel said. "I asked when did this start, and he said after the three innings he had in San Diego. And that was that."

The Mets said Perez flew to Port St. Lucie, Fla., Saturday to begin his rehabilitation program as he works his way back as a starting pitcher. How long that will take, however, is a question no one could answer.

Perez, who was not at the ballpark to comment, is 0-3 this season in 11 games, including seven starts, with a 6.28 ERA. The Mets removed him from their rotation after a May 14 start in Florida in which he allowed seven runs and nine hits - including four home runs - in 31/3 innings. It was his second consecutive start in which he failed to finish the fourth inning.

Since then, the Mets have wanted to send the erratic lefthander to the minor leagues to work on his pitching, as opposed to using him in a mop-up role out of the bullpen in the majors.

But Perez, who is in the second year of a three-year, $36-million contract, repeatedly refused the request, something players with more than five years of service are allowed to do as per baseball's collective-bargaining agreement.

It didn't take long for the standoff to go public.

Manuel has openly stated at times that he has no role for Perez, and the team made no secret that his fastball was lacking. Perez, who once threw in the mid-90s, was down to the high 80s.

Though Perez repeatedly said the reason wasn't an injury, it sure didn't look that way to the Mets and their fans, who had to keep wondering what had happened to the pitcher who won 15 games in 2007.

"We're all scratching our heads, because you just don't see a guy lose his fastball that quickly," pitching coach Dan Warthen said last week.