Harvelous Gets MRI

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Edgy MD wrote: Dating supermodels, posing in the buff for a magazine spread, tearing your UCL. Should anybody be surprised that one should follow the others sure as fall follows spring and summer? It's such an obvious downfall that I'd expect it from Cole Hamels. (Still processing.)

/makes clicky sound

[Centerfield]

Aren't ligaments the type of things that don't fix themselves? I would think he has to have the surgery at some point or another.

I would want him to have it sooner rather than later.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Lucky for you, fatso, I have a partially torn ulnar collateral ligament.
Otherwise, I'd punch you right in the mouth.

[ashie62]

metsguyinmichigan wrote: Was it Ashie who used to say that Citi Field was built on an Indian burial ground? I'm starting to wonder.

Yes..and it is...

[ashie62]

I'm thinking of Tim Leary and Paul Wilson..

[metirish]

Mark Mulder who had the surgery with Altchek(didn't work) has been tweeting

Mark Mulder ?@markmulder20
Everyone thinks good mechanics prevent arm injury. Doesn't matter people. Either you get lucky or you don't.

[ashie62]

After 47 years I would so love to blow this team off...

[Frayed Knot]

Ashie62 wrote: After 47 years I would so love to blow this team off...

You're welcome to at any time.

[Guest d'Kong76]

Ashie62 wrote: After 47 years I would so love to blow this team off...

See ya tomorrow

[batmagadanleadoff]

Frayed Knot wrote: Ashie62 wrote: After 47 years I would so love to blow this team off... You're welcome to at any time.

Ha! I'm LMAO. Ha Ha. Guffaw. ROFL.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Kong76 wrote: Ashie62 wrote: After 47 years I would so love to blow this team off... See ya tomorrow

[Guest d'Kong76]

You're as hooked as any of us are, so save your yucks
at our expense wise guy.

[Frayed Knot]

Centerfield wrote: Aren't ligaments the type of things that don't fix themselves? I would think he has to have the surgery at some point or another. I would want him to have it sooner rather than later.

They don't fix themselves as far as self-"sewing"-up the torn part. But partial tears cause pain and swelling which can be dealt with rest, strengthening, etc., and if there's enough of it still un-torn to function maybe immediate cutting isn't the best move.
Obviously it all depends on the amount of the tear which is why they're going to wait until the swelling goes down before making a more specific determination and a recommendation. And while it certainly seems to all us internet doctors that the move is to have it ASAP, if for no other reason than to not have it hanging over his head for the foreseeable future, TJ surgery is still not a fool-proof procedure that you want to do just for the hell of it.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Kong76 wrote: You're as hooked as any of us are, so save your yucks at our expense wise guy.

I don't deny that, but I don't think you get this exchange.

[Guest themetfairy]

d'Arnaud shows some arm!

[ashie62]

Frayed Knot wrote: Ashie62 wrote: After 47 years I would so love to blow this team off... You're welcome to at any time.

Im just upset...like when Namath used to blow out a knee..

I aint going anywhere

A long offseason will salve the wound..

[Edgy MD]

themetfairy wrote: d'Arnaud shows some arm!

Wrong thread, maybe, but any news of a healthy arm is welcome here.

[Guest metsguyinmichigan]

Is Santana an option for next season? His deal is up, right? Assuming Harvey is gone, is there harm to an incentive-laden deal for Johan -- assuming he's take it?

[Edgy MD]

Well, the harm is that there may be smarter options available for the money.

[Ceetar]

Edgy MD wrote: Well, the harm is that there may be smarter options available for the money.

not sure there are actually 'smart' ways to spend money on pitching arms.

If we could get Santana renewed on a Marcumesque deal? (Or a Chris Youngesque one?) Absolutely sign me up.

Or, you know, Mike Pelfrey.

Those are probably your two main options. filler types or injury-addled high-reward guys. Or just whatever sticks and lots of offense, but they're a ways away from that.

[MFS62]

His interim replacement from within the organization? I don't think it will be one of the top prospects because they are on innings limits, too. I'd imagine there will be a lot of pitchers available as waiver pickups by the end of August.
But if they don't go that route, my dark horse candidate from within is Giancarlo Alvarado, an ex- Mexican League (and everywhere else) veteran now at Las Vegas:
http://www.baseballamerica.com/statistics/players/cards/41721

Later

[MFS62]

Edgy MD wrote: Let's focus on the positive. Let me know if you find anything.

Part of a Jim Bowden article on ESPN.

Hidden benefit If you are looking for one silver lining in all of this, it�s this: Had the Mets finished strong in September, they might have been tempted to go make a rash free-agent signing this winter. Assuming Harvey has TJ, it will remove any temptation the Mets might have had to go for broke in 2014. And that�s good, because this year�s free-agent class � led by Robinson Cano, Jacoby Ellsbury and Shin-Soo Choo � is somewhat lackluster. Harvey�s injury will allow the Mets to take a step back and let some of their youngsters develop, and they can really get a feel for the likes of d�Arnaud, Flores, Ike Davis and Juan Lagares, to see if those are the kind of young position players they can built around. This is obviously a tough blow for the Mets� franchise. But when you consider the high success rate of Tommy John surgery and the Mets� long-term outlook, this isn�t a major setback in terms of World Series potential. If Harvey does the smart thing and has surgery it will certainly take a toll on the Mets� win total in 2014, but it won�t seriously hinder their hopes for contending in 2015, which was the most realistic scenario all along.

Later

[Ceetar]

wait for next year next year isn't a 'hidden bonus'

[Benjamin Grimm]

This whole thing sucks, but it's no reason to write off 2014 yet.

[Ceetar]

Benjamin Grimm wrote: This whole thing sucks, but it's no reason to write off 2014 yet.

Bowden is making a thinly veiled 'Mets are broke and can't spend enough to win without Harvey' comment there.

[Lefty Specialist]

There's crap on the FA market anyway. 2014 isn't an ideal time to spend.

[metirish]

Jim Bowden sure knows about making off season FA signings......and skimming money....

It's quite possible the Mets don't write off 2014 and they go out and get some players and make a push for a winning season.....I hate to think 2015(even though I mentioned it yesterday).. that's a long way away from 2006 our last post season....fuck.

[Centerfield]

I've thought about this, and Bowden is absolutely right. Next year was going to be, at best, 1985. Let Matt get the surgery, not rush back, and be at full strength for 2015. It is much better than finding out about this in spring training or April of next year, when it would have compromised his 2015 season. 2015 is when we are going to be ready anyway. Next year will be the year we get back into contention, take the next step forward, but we're not going to win it all next year.

Next year is the year we find out about Lagares, D'Arnaud, Wilmer Flores and Jennry Mejia. Next year we have to make a final call on Davis, Duda and Murphy. Next year Wheeler will win 20 games. Syndergaard and Montero will get called up, get knocked around a bit, then figure it out toward the end of the season. Next year is the year people are going to say "Oh my god, the Mets have so much pitching. Can you believe what they'll be like next year when they get Harvey back?" The only downside is that we'll burn another year of Sugarpants' prime, but it should be a fun year anyway, even if they fall a bit short at the end.

Then in the winter of 2014, the Mets will have so much money they will be able to spend at will (having not wasted bundles of money on Shin Soo Choo and Jacoby Ellsbury). They'll know who's going to work, who won't, use that money to fill in the holes.

Then in 2015, we'll find out that Harvey is completely recovered, and now throws 115 with his new elbow. The new look Mets will make the National League their bitches. At the trading deadline, every other team in baseball will sell because they don't want to face the Mets in the playoffs. They'll institute a mercy rule and call the regular season in August. In September, they'll ask for volunteers to face the Mets in the post-season, but because no one wants to, they'll be forced to pull names from a hat.

The Mets will take the field waiting for their opponents to show up, with Harvey pacing on the mound glaring at his opponent like the way Darth Maul glared at Obi Wan after killing Qui Gon Jin. It will be the shortest post-season ever. Series will last a game or two, after which the other team will withdraw sending a note that says "That's enough. We give up." One week after Labor Day, we'll all skip work to attend the ticker tape parade.

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

Feh. As usual, Met fans are getting too wrapped up in one guy (Reyes, Dickey, Harvey... etc). It's a tough break for sure but I'm already sick of the whole "there goes next year" booshit already. Winning a championship is always difficult.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Lotsa optimists here, that's for sure. I don't know where this originated from that it's supposed to be a foregone conclusion that the Mets will contend in 2014, 2015 at the latest (probably the same Orwellian Mets forces that once brainwashed the media into regarding Rey Ordonez as Ozzie Smith like). It might happen, and I'll surely be rooting for it. But this team has no offense, none. For whatever reasons, David Wright, their best hitter, hasn't been the 30 HR perennial MVP candidate that he used to be since Shea Stadium was torn down, and that'll be six seasons ago in 2014. Wright'll be on the wrong side of 30 next year, his durability perhaps in decline. The team's pinning their hopes on a bunch of pitchers in their early 20's --the shakiest of baseball foundations -- most of whom are still in the minors. There's no apparent hitting star on the immediate horizon now that d'Arnaud is here. It's just as likely that the team will suck for years and years more. I don't think the Mets are any closer to putting a strong team on the field than they were three or four years ago.