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October 4, 2013 News Notes Rumors Paul Festa

Harvey to Have Tommy John Surgery

A decision has been made:

Sounds like it must have been an obvious choice. The Mets originally said they’d give Harvey a chance to rehab until December, and even had plans to test his elbow out in the Arizona Fall League.

So now, the Mets will have a 2014 rotation of Zack Wheeler, Jon Niese, Dillon Gee, possibly Jenrry Mejia, and someone else – maybe a stopgap veteran like Aaron Harang or Daisuke Matsuzaka (or someone else). 2014 will also likely feature the debut of Rafael Montero and Noah Syndergaard, but it probably won’t happen until May or June, so the team can have an extra year of control.

More details will be coming out about Harvey as the day progresses.

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Paul is a freelance writer, blogger, and broadcast technology professional residing in Denver. A New Jersey native, he is a long-suffering Mets fan, a recently-happy Giants fan, and bewildered Islanders fan. He's also a fair-weather Avalanche and Rockies supporter. In his spare time, he enjoys the three Gs: Golf, Guitars, and Games.
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  1. Izzy October 4, 2013 at 5:15 pm
    Harvey is a human being with his own mental capacity. Nobody on the New York Mets could or can make him ever have surgery. The decision was Harvey’s and to suggest he had a deadline indicates you believe he is “owned”. His delay not the Mets’ delay may be beneficial to him in the long run since it will impossible for Dr Collins, Dr Alderson or any other fake doctor in Queens to try to bring him back before he is ready. Good luck Harvey
  2. Tom G October 4, 2013 at 5:35 pm
    Aww crap! It’s happening again. Can any damn Mets pitcher last two seasons without a stint on the DL or season-ending injuries?
  3. Chris October 4, 2013 at 6:19 pm
    Is anyone surprised by this? I’ve been waiting for the announcement for 2 months. Fire the Collins and Warthen!
  4. argonbunnies October 5, 2013 at 12:09 am
    Nice to hear the Mets aren’t doing something insane and jeopardizing 2015.

    Sad to have it confirmed that 2014 will suck.

    • Dan B October 5, 2013 at 9:32 am
      Sorry to jump off topic, but I have a link for Argon. http://bleacherreport.com/articles/738900-two-years-later-the-mets-are-decisive-losers-in-wagner-trade. It answers the Wagner trade question you had before.
      • Joe Janish October 5, 2013 at 2:08 pm
        Dan, I wrote a similar article three years ago:
        http://www.metstoday.com/5937/10-11-offseason/time-to-assess-the-billy-wagner-trade/#more-5937

        And followed it up with this:
        http://www.metstoday.com/6266/2011-spring-training/x-factor-mets-cash-flow/

        At this point, the Bleacher Report article is just annoying to Mets fans, and doesn’t really capture the reality of what was happening at the time of the deal — mainly, that the Mets were dead broke, and they couldn’t take the risk that Wagner would accept the $8M option on his contract.

      • argonbunnies October 5, 2013 at 4:16 pm
        Ah! We passed on the chance to get two high draft picks. Gotcha. I forgot that part.

        Dunno how Pugliese knows the Mets’ real motives re: draft spending, but if true, that is pretty awful.

        Someone should ask Omar, “Did you only draft Eddie Kunz cuz he was cheap and ownership wouldn’t pay for a real prospect?”

    • Dan B October 5, 2013 at 9:40 am
      I wonder how much Harvey’s choice was medical and how much was financial. I don’t mean he didn’t pick a path that wasn’t medically sound but I thought he was taking a major risk not getting the surgury. Would the Mets buy out his arbitration years knowing he was a ticking time bomb? What if he made it to free agency? Would you give $20 million a year if you knew the chances of him losing a year was high? Harvey seems to enjoy the spotlight and has spoken about his dream of a $200 million contract. Money sure would of effected my choice if I was in his shoes.
      • Joe Janish October 5, 2013 at 2:11 pm
        Interesting point.

        Considering the potential dollars at stake down the road, I’d have to think that finances played into the decision.

        • NormE October 5, 2013 at 2:52 pm
          With Boras as his agent what else would you expect?

          I can only speculate, but if Harvey comes back healthy and effective I’d guess that he would relish the big bucks that would await him with Free Agency. No way he’d be a Met for life, at least not if the Wilpons are still on the scene.

        • DaveSchneck October 5, 2013 at 3:20 pm
          No doubt that the financial risk had something to do with Harvey’s decision. How much only he knows. While he is a millionnaire based on his signing bonus, he really hasn’t cashed in. While the TJ surgery has had many great outcomes, it isn’t automatic. 85% to 90% successful is what is being stated, but I am not exactly sure what that means. If Harvey can only perform at an SP3/SP4 level in 2015 and beyond, was the surgery a success? Certainly, in terms of restoring a MLB career. But, from the standpoint of potential earnings, returning at a level of SP3/SP4, or bypassing sugery and only performing at an SP3/SP4 level, would literally cost Harvey $100 million. I hope for his full recovery, but any plan the Mets have with him in it in 2015 and beyond should not depend upon him being an ace until he returns to that form and sustains it over 2 seasons. There is a chance that we may have seen the best we ever will see from Matt, although I will be hoping otherwise.
    • crozier October 6, 2013 at 9:42 pm
      Sad to confirm that the 2014 Mets won’t have a big draw, anyway. If the team makes good acquisitions, they can still compete. If they don’t, Harvey couldn’t stir the drink regardless.

      Now if you’ll excuse me, the Braves and Dodgers are beating the living crap out of each other, which is slightly more relevant at the moment, and highly entertaining.

  5. Happy59 October 7, 2013 at 10:32 pm
    I return home from a two week stay in my fav hospital to what? Egad’s…..

    Collins gets a two year extension……….

    The Giants are 0-5………………..

    Will the pain never end…………………. sigh

  6. DanB October 8, 2013 at 10:32 am
    I read that the Mets are working with a new bio-mechanic analyst company. However only pitchers in the majors will be studied. Wouldn’t it make more sense to study pitchers in the minors, as they develop their motion?
    • TexasGusCC October 8, 2013 at 10:50 am
      •This season, the Mets became the first Major League team to work with KinaTrax, a company that tracks pitchers’ bio-mechanics via motion-capture technology. The purpose is to gather information on how their pitchers’ mechanics develop over time, so the Mets can better evaluate their long-term health. The Orioles and Brewers are the only other MLB clubs investing in bio-mechanical evaluations of their players.
    • TexasGusCC October 8, 2013 at 10:51 am
      Sorry, would like to add that the Mariners have done this in the past few years, and started with their major league pitchers and then moved to their minor league guys.
    • argonbunnies October 8, 2013 at 2:43 pm
      The Metsblog article made it sound like this is pure data-gathering, with conclusions hopefully to emerge once a large enough body of data has been built and analyzed.

      I hope this isn’t the case — I hope KinaTrax also has someone on staff who’s applying some prior knowledge of pitching motions to Mets pitchers. “Zack Wheeler is throwing normally for Zack Wheeler” is less useful than “Zack Wheeler is doing something that logic and history tells us is risky, even if we don’t have it digitized at 1000 frames per second.”

      Hopefully we hear more details about this at some point. Maybe Joe can ask Dr. Borelli if she knows anything about KinaTrax.

      • Joe Janish October 9, 2013 at 12:34 pm
        I don’t know anything about KinaTrax but it sounds like a step in the right direction.

        Of course, if it’s Dan Warthen evaluating the results, then the technology isn’t going to help — you still need someone (i.e., trained scientist) to watch what’s happening.

        But hey, the rockheads in the big boys’ club will continue to attempt to figure things out on their own. They should be caught up with modern science by the 23rd century, at the rate they’re going.

        Again, though, it’s a start.

        BTW, you think anyone in the baseball blogosphere is ever going to talk to someone other than the “injury expert” about pitching injuries and mechanics? Like, perhaps, someone with actual, real credentials and diplomas?

    • DaveSchneck October 8, 2013 at 2:47 pm
      Dan,
      No, that wasn’t in the budget. Wait, Fred said they have no budget. Good point, though. I think they have a much better chance of adjusting a minor leaguer’s mechanics than a major leaguer’s.