Perez Slipping Away

Today's Post story paints a negative picture. The Mets and now the Marlins are hot on Odalis' trail. It even quotes Bowden as saying that the chances of signing him are "on life support."

Our chief negotiator seems to be Jose Rijo:
"I told him he doesn't want to play in New York," Rijo said. "Even for a superstar like Pedro, that's a lot of pressure. The press is horrible on people there. I don't think he wants to go to that pressure. I think he should come and pitch every five days and have fun in a city where baseball is new."

Nationals Pastime's analysis, that I linked to yesterday, demonstrates how valuable Odalis could be to this team--and what he could mean to the other teams in the division.

He's clearly the best pitcher left on the market--hell, the only good pitcher left on the market. The article indicates that the Nats will wisely not go after anyone else on the market with a big contract if Odalis doesn't sign. But what would be really damaging is if he signs within the division over 2 or 3 million dollars--money that Bowden has frittered away with some of the signings he's made.