It's Still Amateur Hour At Citi Field

Even if I didn’t have the Yankees to keep my chin up during this late-winter crapfest in sports, I could always count on the comedy of errors that is the New York Mets to brighten my day. Here's a quick update on how their Monday is going:

Putz Was Damaged Goods Last Year

J.J. Putz told CSNChicago that he did not receive a physical after the Mets acquired him in a trade with the Mariners before last season. Putz said the Mariners had discovered a bone spur in his throwing elbow during the 2008 season, and when the Mets did find out about the injury they instructed Putz to hide it from the media.
“When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets. I had the bone spur (in the right elbow),” said Putz, who was signed by the White Sox this offseason after the Mets declined his option.
“It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training, and the spring training physical is kind of a formality. It was bugging me all through April, and in May I got an injection. It just got to the point where I couldn’t pitch. I couldn’t throw strikes, my velocity was way down.”
“I knew that I wasn’t right. I wasn’t healthy. The toughest part was having to face the media and tell them that you feel fine, even though you know there’s something wrong and they don’t want you telling them that you’re banged up.” (story courtesy of the NY Post)


So let me get this straight. The Mets traded for a guy who they knew had a potentially serious elbow injury because they didn't give him a physical and then once they realized their fuck up, they put a gag order on the guy to cover up their own stupidity and not give him a way to explain why he was so terrible last year, thus leaving him at the mercy of the ruthless New York media and fans?

That sounds like par for the course for the Met front office and training staff. I guess J.J. wasn't the putz after all. HIIYOOOOOOO!!!
 
Jose Reyes Is A Doctor Now
 
I don't want to tell Jose Reyes what to do, and considering how poorly the team managed his injury last season, not to mention the calamities that were the Ryan Church concussion, the Johan Santana arm issues, the Carlos Beltran knee, and now the J.J. Putz elbow, I don't blame him for leaving this out of the team doctors' hands. But if I were him, I'd be doing more than just a few wind sprints before I declared myself ready to play baseball in 2010.
 
At least get looked at by a volunteer at a free clinic before declaring it full speed ahead. That has to be a safer option than letting the Mets training staff get ahold of him.

Of course, seeing as how this story and the Putz story were posted on The Post's website at about the same time, I would say it's only a matter of days before we are reading about Reyes' entire left leg falling completely off of his body.
 
Mets Interested In Yankees' Sloppy Seconds
 
Wang is being watched closely by the Mets, according to ESPN Insider.
Wang's agent told the Web site that four or five teams are interested in the 29-year-old right-hander who had elbow surgery in July and is not expected to be major-league ready until May.
The report says the Mets also are looking at John Smoltz and Braden Looper, and are stopping short with Wang because he will not be available for the entire season....
Omar Minaya told SNY on Thursday that the free-agent market doesn't have options that are better than the pitchers already with the Mets. (story courtesy of The Post)
 
 
Oh, Omar, you silly, stupid little man. OF COURSE the free agent market doesn't have any good options left. You let them all pass you by without even getting involved over the last 2 months! And not for nothing, but just because there aren't any free agent options that are better than what your team has, that doesn't mean that what your team has is any better than the available free agent options. But hey, if you want to show interest in a guy who won't be ready to pitch until May and probably won't be back in top-form game shape until June or July, be my guest.
 
And if you're going to kick the tires on John Smoltz or consider penciling Braden Looper and his 5.00+ ERA-potential into the rotation, why not check in and see what Doc Gooden is up to? Or El Duque. Or Tom Glavine.

I mean, who needs guys like John Lackey, Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Randy Wolf, Jason Marquis, Rich Harden, Ben Sheets, Joel Pineiro, or Jon Garland when you've got Johan (coming off arm problems in 2009), John Maine (ditto), Mike Pelfrey (unreliable and mentally unstable), Oliver Perez (ditto, only more unreliable and more unstable), and Tim Redding (so useless that he probably isn't even included on the team roster in MLB videogames)? Am I right?

I'd say it's already shaping up to be a great year for the Mets.