After a 12-day layoff, Oliver Perez returned to the mound with los Tomateros de Culiacan on Tuesday night in the Mexican winter league. His line: five innings, three hits, three earned runs, three walks, four strikeouts. Two of the hits were home runs -- both by Caneros de los Mochis infielder Ramon Orantes.

Overall, Perez is 3-3 with a 5.18 ERA in 11 appearances (six starts). In 33 innings, he has allowed 30 hits and 23 walks, struck out 26 and allowed a .242 opponent batting average.

The 29-year-old Perez, who is owed $12 million next season, apparently will be in spring training competing for at least a left-handed relief spot. Left-handed batters have a .163 average against him this winter in Mexico.

The Mets have yet to sign any left-handed relief help to offset the losses of Pedro Feliciano and Hisanori Takahashi. Southpaw Pat Misch could take over the long-relief role, but he actually has been more proficient retiring right-handed batters than left-handed batters in his career (.282 batting average for righties; .289 for lefties). Among other lefties under control, Mike O'Connor was re-signed to a minor league contract, and farmhand Eric Niesen remains an option down the road, although he needs to upgrade his control after walking 60 and hitting 10 batters in 77 innings last season at Double-A Binghamton.

Remaining left-handed relievers on the free-agent market include: Joe Beimel, Tim Byrdak, Hideki Okajima, Will Ohman, Dennys Reyes, Ron Mahay and Randy Flores.

Here's a list of remaining free agents as compiled by the Associated Press:

National League

PIRATES (1) -- Chan Ho Park, rhp.

ARIZONA (6) -- Kris Benson, rhp; Mike Hampton; lhp; Aaron Heilman, rhp; Adam LaRoche, 1b; Rodrigo Lopez, rhp; Brandon Webb, rhp.

ATLANTA (4) -- Rick Ankiel, of; Kyle Farnsworth, rhp; Troy Glaus, 1b; Derrek Lee, 1b.

CINCINNATI (6) -- Willie Bloomquist, of; Orlando Cabrera, ss; Jim Edmonds, of; Mike Lincoln, rhp; Arthur Rhodes, lhp; Russ Springer, rhp.

COLORADO (5) -- Joe Beimel, lhp; Octavio Dotel, rhp; Jeff Francis, lhp; Jason Giambi, 1b; Jay Payton, of.

FLORIDA (3) -- Will Ohman, lhp; Jorge Sosa, rhp; Chad Tracy, 3b.

HOUSTON (1) -- Brian Moehler, rhp.

LOS ANGELES (4) -- Brad Ausmus, c; Reed Johnson, c; Scott Podsednik, of; Jeff Weaver, rhp.

MILWAUKEE (6) -- David Bush, rhp; Chris Capuano, lhp; Craig Counsell, ss; Doug Davis, lhp; Trevor Hoffman, rhp; Gregg Zaun, c.

NEW YORK (3) -- Elmer Dessens, rhp; Kelvim Escobar, rhp; Fernando Tatis, inf-of.

PHILADELPHIA (3) -- Chad Durbin, rhp; J.C. Romero, lhp; Mike Sweeney, 1b.

ST. LOUIS (8) -- Pedro Feliz, 3b; Jason LaRue, c; Mike MacDougal, rhp; Aaron Miles, 2b; Brad Penny, rhp; Dennys Reyes, lhp; Jeff Suppan, rhp; Randy Winn, of.

SAN DIEGO (3) -- David Eckstein, 2b; Jerry Hairston Jr., ss; Chris Young, rhp.

SAN FRANCISCO (2) -- Jose Guillen, of; Edgar Renteria, ss.

WASHINGTON (4) -- Miguel Batista, rhp; Willie Harris, of; Adam Kennedy, 2b; Kevin Mench, of.

American League

BALTIMORE (3) -- Mark Hendrickson, lhp; Julio Lugo, 2b; Kevin Millwood, rhp.

BOSTON (3) -- Adrian Beltre, 3b; Felipe Lopez, 3b; Mike Lowell, 1b.

CHICAGO (4) -- Freddy Garcia, rhp; Andruw Jones, of; Mark Kotsay, dh; Manny Ramirez; of.

DETROIT (3) -- Jeremy Bonderman, rhp; Johnny Damon, of; Bobby Seay, lhp.

KANSAS CITY (1) -- Bruce Chen, lhp.

LOS ANGELES (1) -- Scot Shields, rhp.

MINNESOTA (7) -- Randy Flores, lhp; Brian Fuentes, lhp; Ron Mahay, lhp; Carl Pavano, rhp; Nick Punto, 3b, Jon Rauch, rhp; Jim Thome, dh.

NEW YORK (4) -- Nick Johnson, dh; Chad Moeller, c; Andy Pettitte, lhp; Marcus Thames, dh.

OAKLAND (3) -- Eric Chavez, 3b; Justin Duchscherer, rhp; Ben Sheets, rhp.

SEATTLE (4) -- Josh Bard, c; Russell Branyan, 1b; Chris Woodward, ss; Jamey Wright, rhp.

TAMPA BAY (6) -- Rocco Baldelli, dh; Grant Balfour, rhp; Brad Hawpe, of; Gabe Kapler, of; Chad Qualls, rhp; Rafael Soriano, rhp.

TEXAS (4) -- Jorge Cantu, inf; Vladimir Guerrero, dh; Cristian Guzman, inf; Bengie Molina, c.

TORONTO (2) -- Kevin Gregg, rhp; Miguel Olivo, c.