Perez now auditioning for Mets' bullpen

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- It's now about two minutes to midnight for the Mets' career of Oliver Perez after the team's management decided Wednesday to give him one last try as a lefthanded specialist in the bullpen. Manager Terry Collins, pitching coach Dan Warthen and general manager Sandy Alderson came to that agreement during a meeting and informed Perez later in the afternoon.

"I told him we think the place where he would probably help us the most is being a situational lefty," Collins said. "He said he understood and would do the best he can to help us out of the bullpen."

Perez was in the dugout for the Mets' 7-2 victory over the Astros, but left before the game was over, which is customary for pitchers who are not used. Now that he is not a member of the starting rotation, Perez has been stripped of that luxury, and he'll make his bullpen debut Saturday against the Braves in Orlando.

If history is any indication, the prognosis is not very good. Perez has made 11 relief appearances during his career and posted an 8.36 ERA in that role. Opposing hitters have batted .339 against Perez, who has allowed 19 hits and 14 walks in 14 innings in relief.

The only glimmer of hope is the fact that Perez has held lefthanded hitters to a .226 average, with a 2.98 walk-to-strikeout ratio. But asking him to duplicate that success out of the bullpen, in high-pressure situations, seems like a tall order.

"He's in a completely new role," Collins said. "I told him I think it's a great, fresh start for him, and so we'll see what comes out of it."

Aside from the morning summit to decide his fate, it was a typical day for Perez, who showed up wearing sunglasses and a white sanitary sock as a headband. That's not unusual for the lefthander, and once he dressed to join his teammates for drills, it became apparent early on that Perez again had avoided being released.

Even so, Perez faces long odds in his attempt to stick as a reliever for a number of reasons -- the least of which being his competition. When asked to name other candidates for that spot, Collins rattled off Taylor Tankersley, Tim Byrdak, Mike O'Connor and Pat Misch before asking, "Any other lefties in camp that I'm missing?"

That's what the Mets get for saying goodbye to Pedro Feliciano, who signed with the Yankees for a two-year deal worth $8 million. With no obvious replacements for Feliciano, the Mets have nothing to lose by giving Perez an audition in the bullpen, and they owe him $12 million for this season regardless of how this plays out.

Only now Perez is in the end stages of his spring-training tryout, which began with the manager's pledge he would get a shot at the rotation. Frankly, there was never any room for Perez -- not as long as Chris Young and Chris Capuano stayed healthy -- and his performance didn't warrant any serious consideration.

The Mets were under the belief that Perez's velocity had reached as high as 88-92 mph during the Mexican winter league. But he barely touched 87-88 in three Grapefruit League starts, with his fastball hovering in the mid-80s.

Perez allowed 10 hits and seven earned runs in seven innings, with five walks and four strikeouts. At this point, the Mets have no more starts to offer him, and tossing him a few spare innings is no big deal as long as the games don't count.

"If we do that, then obviously we're prepared to invest some time in that possibility," Alderson said before the game against Houston. "And the whole issue of innings, and whether there are innings available, we got lots of innings -- innings are not an issue. There's not a finite reservoir of innings."