Devastastion, thy name is baseball

Is there anything worse than quitting?
(If you're struggling to come up with the answer, it is No)
Here we are, with what is in my opinion the major flaw of baseball's obscenely long season--almost every team has to eventually decide to give up. By season's end, there are at most 6-7 teams from both leagues that are still playing hard.
That's because it's pretty obvious in baseball when you're out of it. For example, the Pittsburgh Pirates knew they were out of it about 10 games into the season (okay, maybe it took 15). From that point on, they have stopped playing as hard, only trying for a win when they are with a run or better in the eighth inning.
That is a fact of every sport though. The doormats stop playing and start dumping guys as soon as possible to prep for next year. What's weird about baseball is that can happen 100 games into the season.
Take the New York Mets, for example. They headed into the All-star break eight games above .500, in second place in the NL East by 4.5 games and a half game out of the wild-card. Just 11 games into the second half, though, the Mets have stopped trying to make it to the playoffs.
They started things with 1-3 series in San Francisco, then lost their first game at the woefully bad Arizona Diamondbacks. Then they brought back Ollie Perez, the surest sign of all that they were not concerned with a playoff run.
Make no mistake: Ollie is one of the worst pitchers in the majors. I've never seen a guy with as little control as him. If he inherits runners on first and second with two out, there is as strong a chance of him walking in a run as there is of him getting out of the inning.
So the Mets bringing him back up was their way of waving the white flag. We quit. They aren't going to use Ollie, seeing as he's their third best left-handed reliever. There aren't going to be many situations that call for him.
Essentially, it is a situation of the organization placing him on the roster because they don't believe they will contend, and they won't have a mult-million dollar player in the minor leagues.
How about this though: if you're going to call up Ollie from now on, or do anything else that signifies the team is done for this season, at least be fair to the fans. Lower ticket prices. If you aren't playing hard, why should they pay full price? At least tell the fans you are finished, and let them know you'll be gearing up to go all-out next year.
Just don't pull this "We've got our pitcher back and that's a good thing" routine. It's not a good thing. It's a bad thing. If you're gonna pull this kind of stunt, own up to what it is: giving up.