METS’ PEREZ HOPES TO PITCH IN CULIACAN

New York Mets pitcher Oliver Perez is seeking to pitch this winter in his hometown Culiacan. According to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News, the 29-year-old Perez has asked the Mets for permission to going to Mexico after a disastrous season in New York in which he went 0-4 with a 6.65 ERA in 46 innings and refused a May assignment to the minors. The lefty eventually took a trip to Buffalo but has been hampered by a knee injury all season.

Perez will be entering the final season of a three-year, $36 million contract that will pay him $12 million in 2011. His fastball has reportedly failed to register above the mid-80’s and that, along with his contract, has made him virtually untradeable. The Mets have thus far refused to release Perez and eat the remainder of his contract.

Perez won 25 games for the Mets in 2007 and 2008, but is only 3-8 the past two years.