The Mets have issued the following statement, in regards to J.J. Putz:
“In our review of the player’s medical records in the acquisition of J.J. Putz, we were aware that he had a bone spur before the trade. He had the same condition in 2008 and was able to pitch with it. J.J. underwent an exam during Spring Training and an additional exam and MRI before he was cleared to play in last year’s World Baseball Classic. Unfortunately the spur did flare up again in May, and he missed the rest of the season. We are happy to hear he is feeling well, and wish him success with the White Sox.”
By the way, to see Putz’s interview with Comcast Chicago, go here.
Original Post at 10:35 am:
In an interview with Chuck Garfien of Comcast Chicago, White Sox reliever J.J. Putz described his time with the Mets last season as ‘a mess.’
“When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets,” Putz told Garfien. “I had the bone spur (in the right elbow). It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training.”
According to Putz, the Mets told him not to discuss the injury with reporters, saying:
“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.”
Putz agreed to a one-year, $3 million contract with the White Sox last month.
He pitched just 29 innings last season for the Mets, who acquired him one year ago from the Mariners with reliever Sean Green in a three-team trade with Indians for Aaron Heilman, Endy Chavez and Jason Vargas, as well as prospects Mike Carp, Maikel Cleto and Ezequiel Carrera.
Yet, he had no problem taking his paycheck every week……what a Putz
Too bad. We never got to see the REAL JJ.
He has SICK stuff when healthy. He looked good the first month of the season then all hell broke loose.
Shame, we shoulda resigned him for the 3mm the Sox gave him, though I doubt he woulda came back here.
Most Met fans have no idea how good this guy is/was.
I never thought he looked good in the beginning, even when his ERA was good. His splitter seemed to be floating all over the place from the get-go. He was getting lucky.
I agree furious. But its how good he was I think. I wish him the best, but I think he might be done for or average at best due to injuries. I hope he does with the W-Sox, but I think his domintae days are over
No he didn’t, and he had no problem pitching in the WBC either, but then again, Delgado and Beltran should have been held out too, completely ridiculous the whole 2009 season was, 2010 needs to start with a clean slate for the better.
Good point, I forgot about the WBC. I mean what the hell was he doing pitching in it to begin with knowing he had this injury? I wonder if they asked him that in this interview. And why would the Mets let him go pitch in the WBC if they knew he was hurt. God I hate the WBC.
The WBC may have been the biggest contributor to the Mets season last year and also the biggest advertisement for the benefits of spring training. Can’t be just a coincidence that 2/3 of the Mets roster was at the WBC instead of spring training then almost of all them break down during the season. Why the Mets allowed it amazes me to begin with… but then again how many times do you ever see the Mets do anything that would go against the wishes of Bud Selig.
I never thought of this.. It would be very interesting to see the number of injuries on a team in relation to the number of players that went to the WBC. Anyone care to dig it up?
Off the top of my head these Mets players all participated in the WBC and landed on the DL for some if not all of the season:
1) Reyes – did hamstring affect him then?
2) Putz – Elbow? Why did he pitch especially when new on team
3) Delgado- Hip
4) Beltran – Balky knees
5) Wright (njured during WBC- toe injury against Venezuela and knee to the head against Netherlands- could be reason why August concussion was especially damaging ?
Perhaps you should stop looking at numbers and actually trust your eyes.
The guy had electric nasty stuff.
How was it his fault that the Mets didn’t do their due dilligance?
Ditto on this!
“He knew it wasn’t right” except when it came to cashing his paycheck.
(And, btw, another nail in Omar’s coffin for not checking this out. How many more Second chances does Omar get?)
Jeez.
Wow very interesting. Trade for a guy who is injury prone and then don’t give him a physical to make sure he is healthy before you trade for him?
Not just injury prone, actually injured!
It’s the Victor Zambrano Rule of Acquiring Damaged Goods: Fool me once, my fault. Fool me twice, my fault. Fool me again, I’m a Wilpon.
I believe teams are required now to disclose an injury. This was especially brought out after the Mets complained the Rays withheld information about Zambrano. He just had “routine elbow inflamation” if there is such a thing.
bone spurs are very common and usually can be pitched through. its just like this piece says: they knew about the problem, but it was unlikely that it would cause him to miss much time. but, as happened in pretty much every case last year, the worst case scenario unfolded.
but the fact is, we got putz green and reed for heilman, chavez, jason vargas joe smith and 3 low to mid level prospects. it was a great deal for a player with huge upside and minor risk. it just didnt happen to work out. fact is, tho, aside from maybe joe smith, the organization isnt gonna miss ANY of these players they gave up. so lets take it easy trying to crucify omar over this one.
you people are like sharks. just a sniff of blood and you’re all over it.
im gonna quickly back track here… when i read this first it was just the top section of the post, i didnt realize there was more and i had yet to read the daily news article so i thought all that had come out was that they had been aware of the existence of the bone spur. hadnt yet read that PUTZ knew it was a problem and was told not to deal with it.
THIS is a huge problem. i kinda convinced myself this beltran thing couldnt really be the willful ignorance that it sounded like it was. but i guess it could be now that theres another story just like it.
im so sick of this organization, but i still dont put it on minaya. we need changes from the top down. while i appreciate having owners who are willing to spend, id rather have an owner who would spend less but would spend better and would let baseball people make baseball decisions. wilpons gotta go. we need to boycott these bastards or something ha. time for them to sell.
to be clear tho, i still stand by my defense of the trade itself. its a worthwhile risk for a player of his caliber.
If this is true the Mets continue to be an absolute joke. From the Wilpons and down its pathetic.
Indeed. IF this is true, it is yet another sad example of how truly dysfunctional the organization is. No wonder players are reluctant to come to the Mets with the training staff the way it is. If the Mets were a publicly held entity, the Wilpons would be fired by now for gross incompetence and endangering the health of their employees.
Good thing the Wilpons promised accountability after the 2009 season.
Fire Omar!
wow- what a debacle… how do you trade for someone, especially the centerpiece of a 8 player deal, without giving him a physical? Unbelievable…
The fact that Seattle would knowingly trade a pitcher with an injury is another matter that seems to have escaped scrutiny in this article. Good to know we are dealing with honest people out there.
Seattle shouldn’t get blamed. The incompetent NY METS should field the blame and no one else. Are you kidding?
Ever hear of the phrase buyer beware?
How do you know they didn’t tell the Mets?
Exactly. Look, if the Mariners didn’t tell the Mets, then the Mariners were wrong, despite the fact that the Mets also should’ve had him take a physical. It’s not buyer beware if the seller is holding back vital information, and thankfully baseball doesn’t work like that. If the Mets weren’t told, they’d have a right to take some kind of action, but I imagine there’s a statute of limitations on that.
However, this isn’t the impression I got from what Putz said. It seemed to me that the Mets DID know about this, and made the trade anyway. Afterall, it looked great on paper to the fanbase. To me, if the Mets did know, and did tell him to shut his mouth about it, then that’s just further evidence that ownership is simply more interested in putting forth the APPEARANCE of a good team, as opposed to actually doing what it takes to do what’s necessary (within reason), all in the name of selling tickets, especially season tickets during the offseason. I had already wondered about this because we had already been given the impression that the Putz had a problem with the elbow when they made the trade, and that the Mets knew this, which led me to wonder why the Mets simply didn’t have him have the surgery when they made the trade. I mean, he would’ve had the rest of the offseason to heal and possibly be ready for the season opener. And since they didn’t do that, I couldn’t help but throw that onto the pile with all the other times this team has done something disingenuous or slick solely to sell as many season tix as they could. This news does not surprise me in the least.
Putz said the bone spurs were found the previous year, so they would surely be on his medical records. Thus, the Mets either didn’t bother to look at his medical records before trading 4 or 5 players to get him, OR–and this is worse–they did look at the records, discovered he had bone spurs, traded him anyway without performing a physical, and then didn’t even bother to manage his medical condition. Just astonishing. If this is true, the Mets really, really do need to clean house in the FO–and I’m no Minaya basher. I never really believed he could be that incompetent, but combine this wtih all the other medical debacles and the whole Bernazard mess, and it’s crystal-clear that Omar is, at best, a lousy manager of people and departments.
Teams try to trade their damaged goods all the time! Look at how the Red Sox tried to unload Lowell before he needed thumb surgery. It’s up to the buyer to test and make sure they’re getting what they seller is selling.
Victor Zambrano
I really think someone in the FO is on the take! “Slip me 100k and I’ll let the trade go through”.
In an interview with Chuck Garfien of Comcast Chicago, White Sox reliever J.J. Putz described his time with the Mets last season as ‘a mess.’
heh…..thats putting it kindly!
Do the Mets have any recourse against Seattle for non-disclosure of the injury? Or was that negated by the Mets ineptitude related to giving Putz a physical?
From what Putz says, it sounds like the Mets knew he was injured when they got him, so Seattle’s off the hook.
Yes, it’s my understanding that they knew about it beforehand.
The Mets could try but somehow they’ll botch that up too.
well Putz says they “didn’t really” give him a physical. What’s that mean?
That’s not what jumps out at me so much as the “don’t tell anyone”.
S C A R Y.
That is the disturbing part, wonder if it was just a way for them to control the story and make it seem all-positive. I mean, he did get a physical and was cleared to play anyway.
but physical’s for pitchers usually include x-rays and/or MRIs, they must have skipped that part.
JJ, you can jump, run, and swing a bat. you’re good to go. no no, we don’t want to know whats in that elbow…don’t ask don’t tell…alright?
I’d like to hear confirmation of exactly what this Spring Training physical entailed that Putz called a ‘formality’. Is that his way of brushing it off to support his story taht he sucked because of the Mets doctors?
Everybody knew about this injury. Recourse? When I heard the Mets traded for Putz I figured they did their due diolgence and he checked out Ok. Say hello to Gary Matthews Jr, Haha it never ends.
Gary Matthews’ major medical problem is that he no longer appears to be taking the HGH that fueled his one good year and got him that monster contract.
It makes absolutely no sense to trade for a guy and not have him take a physical…if that is really the case there should be some immediate firings….
I have almost no doubt that the Mets did know. I don’t think it had anything to do with a failing on anyone’s part to do due diligence. Simply put, as far as I’m concerned, the Mets just held back that information from the fans so they could sell tickets. It’s been something I had wondered about before since we’ve heard some of this before, that the Mets KNEW he had bone spurs in the elbow, and that he might need surgery.
Man, I hope Jason Bay really took a physical.
Talk about a lack of doing the necessary due diligence…not exactly a shocker I guess.
And they have the gall to rip Beltran & Boras for “not following protocol”.
It never ends.
How many more examples of ineptitude does ownership need to see before all of these morons are fired! Oh wait, they are just as inept too. And the NY media wonders why no free agents want to come here???
I think ownership is a major contributor to the aforementioned ineptitude. The fish stinks from the head down. Don’t believe all the PR BS that Omar runs with full autonomy. It isn’t happening and as long as Jeff Wilpon continues to meddle in baseball affairs, this team is going nowhere.
Omar doesn’t exactly seem like the detailed-oriented guy a GM should be.
Yet he went out there and risked his career throwing the ball. On top of that, he knew that he was injured and that he sucked and still had the audacity to bilk the Mets out of their money. I have no sympathy, I hope he’s dreadful from here-on-out.
bilk? thery knew about his injury and kept throwing him out there. is he supposed to refuse? perhaps say “no thanks, no pay check for me”… get a clue dude, he gets paid whether he’s injured or not.
Bilk? i remember report that Mets doctors stated that he needed surgery, and Mets directed he be given cortisone shot and keep pitching instead. Which Putz tried, and didn’t work. I think Putz was good guy and Mets did a bad job by this guy in effort to squeeze some, any benefit for team. Another reason why FAs might not find Mets attractive.
I know it’s fashionable to bash Ollie Perez, but this Putz story sounds a lot like the Duaner Sanchez story and even the Ollie Perez story. The Mets tell their pitchers to “spit on the injury and get back out there” (in Howe’s Artful phrasing) and then when they reinjur themselves the Mets blame poor conditioning. Sounds like they ought to listen to their players more often.
Ooook. So the next time your boss tells you to do something potentially career-ending, are you going to cheerfully go and do it? Of course not! What the hell was he thinking?
The mets are a mess, seems they are just trying to fake out the fans in order to sell tickets. I wouldnt be surprised if beltran is out alot longer than what they told us.
Is anyone still willing to take a flyer on Sheets, Beddard, etc. given this new information?
Sheets might be tough to take a flyer on now that he’s with the A’s.
How is this possible? This cannot be happening? Just when you think you’ve uncovered all the incompetance, there’s more! Honestly, if Fred Wilpon has to fire his son, so be it. Why would anyone want their name attached to this disgrace? Of course, there’s got to be some reasonable explanation, because I literally cannot imagine he was examined by a team physician before they completed the trade.
I meant “not examined”
This is disturbing on multiple levels –
- Why would the Mets allow this?
– Why would Putz jepardize his career in this manner?
– Why lie about it? Come clean, start the year off on the DL, heal and finish the year strong.
– Who is to blame on this Mets or Putz?
I’ve given the Mets the benefit of doubt this whole off season, but seeing how they lied about and asked Putz to lie about his injury just dampers my “rosie” perspective on the organization.
Why would he pitch in the WBC with the injury?
“but seeing how they lied about and asked Putz to lie about his injury just dampers my “rosie” perspective on the organization”
This is how it works in all sports (generally speaking). Unless the player is off the playing field you downplay injuries that may improve to avoid the media focus and to avoid tipping your cards to the other teams. There is a major psych component in sports…do you want the opposing players to have increased confidence from knowing every detail of a guy’s injury? Does it benefit the Mets if they decide to try to make a trade if their level of desperation is advertised?
Any other player wants to come out and bash the Mets? Come on, it’s a requirement!
It’s a disturbing trend, that’s what it is. Too many stories from current and former players all with the same theme – the Mets are run by a clueless bunch of buffoons.
they largely brought this one on themselves.
Disturbing, if It’s true. What’s “I never really had a phsyical” mean? did he? did he not? The bone spur existed, so does he mean he had a physical but not a test on the spur? Didn’t he pitch in 2008 for the Mariners? So why is he complaining he wasn’t healthy in 2009? Why didn’t he get it fixed after the season well before the Mets traded for him? Obviously the Mariners weren’t going to fix it either.
And he says the doctors did check him out after the trade and he/they still decided he could pitch, so the physical would’ve shown the same thing! Maybe the spur was factored into the trade price..
Ceetar I’m with you. Did you or did you not have a physical? He is being quite vague about what he was given. Also everyone needs to keep in mind it was a bone spur. It is very common in pretty much anyone who has pitched for a long time and can be pitched with. It becomes an issue if it breaks off and starts interfering with the elbow joint. Maybe it did not break off until after the season started who knows. And as you stated he had the injury with Seattle the year before, pitched with it and was not having it resolved in the offseason so how severe was the injury that Seattle and there new wiz of a GM everyone is so hot on were not having it resolved on a player who at the time was going to be on their team.
You’re both right, although the Mets thought bone spurs were serious enough to keep John Maine out at the end of 2008 (I know every player/injury is different).
More disturbing than the vague commenets about not “really” having a physical is the part of the story is the Mets telling him to keep quiet.
I’m not saying that’s true. I don’t know. But there is a difference between making sketchy allegations and a bold-face lie.
@ Ceetar– you said as much above. sometimes these threads get hard to follow.
Putz is looking for a scapegoat for why he sucked last year. In one part of the interview he seems to criticize the Mets for being too aggressive shutting him down when he returned from the injury the first time, and then for being too lax for not getting him surgery the second he reported pain in April.
Could it be he’s pissed they declined his option and he had to take a 66% paycut?
doesn’t really matter though, he’s not on the team. Bay has had multiple physicals declaring him healthy recently, Beltran’s surgery was done by the best, Santana was throwing with no pain and Reyes can sprint just fine.
He even pitched in the WBC with it.
But we already knew that he had a bone spur when the trade was made. We didn’t find this out until sometime into the season, but we did find out already that the Mets did, in fact, know this. So, the reason why he was bad, that’s not new information. Most of this information goes back to the early to mid part of last season. What’s new is that part where he says the Mets told him not to speak about it to the media.
The other part that’s new information is now we find out the Mets not only knew about the spur, but also didn’t have him take a physical to get things examined before completing the trade.
I
JUST
CANT
TAKE
THIS
ANYMORE!
How can us fans even begin to defend the team we love from the scrutiny of the media; there is nothing to deny, this team is a mess. =(
Beltran will DEFINITELY be out longer than they’re letting on. As far as I can tell, no one has even said what kind of surgery he had done. This guy’s been on gimpy knees for the last 4 years. I suspect if/when he comes back, it’ll be like Allan Houston’s last years with the Knicks. Beltran will go from being best player on the team to an albatross around the team’s neck.
stop. For one, they’ve said multiple times what the surgery was, and while the reports vary it’s generally 8-12 weeks thats reported and it was done by the best guy in the world so why should we not expect him back at the end of it?
No, it was an arthroscopic procedure, which is as vague a term as possible. It could range from exploratory surgery to ACL reconstruction. The guy that did it is an expert in microfracture, something that takes a year + to recover from. So if that is what he got, there’s no telling exactly when he’ll be back. And finally, when was the last time someone came back from injury when the Mets said they would?
Honestly though, this situation is different. Beltran did this on his own. I actually trust his procedure over anything the Mets orchestrated. The fact he went outside the organization gives me relief that his injury may have actually been treated properly.
Like ceetar said, the surgeon reported the timetable, not the team.
Actually thats not correct.
An arthroscopic procedure is not a reconstruction or microfracture.
An ACL reconstruction or microfracture would be major knee surgery (8 months out) type of thing.
I am not saying there are not varing degrees of arthroscopic procedures; I’m just saying those more major proedures fall out of the arthroscopic category.
Ceetar change your name to Pollyanna.
This past week on Mets Hotstove Omar said it would be a minimum of 12 weeks before Beltran could resume baseball activities. Then he would need a spring training period. He also mentioned that the team will be overly cautious with Beltran.
If we see Beltran before the ASB, i will be shocked and if they are doing poorly, sorry to say but he will not exactly want to rush back if he feels its yet another lost season, cant really blame him if he was not getting paid so well for what he’s supposed to be doing.
The time frame comes from one of if not the best knee doctor in the world let alone the US so I tend to put stock in it. Also he basically had 20 or so chips of cartilege cleaned up and removed from his knee. It amounts to having his knee scoped and was not a major surgery like having an ACL repaired or microfracture surgery
I’m no doctor but the thing that still bothers me about this whole thing is if he had 20 or so chops removed why couldn’t that have been done in October? I’m guessing they knew the chips were there then?
In all fairness, the Mets got Putz the same day that KRod got his physical, so when they checked “get results new reliever physical” off their to-do list, they thought they had covered their bases. Simple mistake.
makes you warm and fuzzy about KRod’s physical.
and the bay one as well.
maybe Peter Gammons isn’t that crazy.
no, he’s that crazy.
Hey may be crazy, but that doesn’t make him wrong.
Just because he says it doesn’t make true. But considering all that has gone on i did say its 50/50.
This is hardly a simple mistake. A couple of million dollars might be a drop in the bucket for some people but it’s still a significant investment for this team. There is absolutely zero reason not to give a player, especially one with known injury problems, a physical.
Again, I suspect the Mets absolutely knew everything, but like Putz said, they chose to keep it from the fanbase in order to keep the excitement levels up in order to sell tickets. This wasn’t some act of incompetence, this was a wilfull act to keep the truth from us. I absolutely would not put this type of behavior past the Wilpons, especially Jeff.
Anyone else wanna take a wager on Bay and his knees/shoulders?
Guess we’ll all be holding our collective breath.
Well the Sox/Gammons have been saying all offseason that Bay’s injured and his joints are ticking time bombs. So considering that this is the Mets we’re talking about, I’m going to assume that Bay’s arm falls off while licking an ice-cream cone or something.
How long before the Players Association steps in on the Mets?
Pelf is the Mets Union Rep, right? cmon big Pelf knock some heads around on your management, we’ll back you!!!
Well, what concerns me is the extent to which this team will go in order to make money, even as far as tricking its fans, even outright lying in order to sell tickets. I don’t know how you prove this if you Major League Baseball, though.
Wouldn’t it be nice if this incident forced the MLB to step in and keep the Wilpons away from any baseball operations for a few years a la George Steinbrenner in the late 80s?
Wow, if even the slightest bit true, this is DAMNING
I agree 100%
If you think this stuff doesn’t go around in baseball you’re clueless, seriously.
I think we’re now getting a clearer understanding of why NOBODY WANTS TO COME HERE!
Why don’t they just blame the dodgers medical staff for this one too.
The sad thing is that every armchair GM was skeptical of Putz even before he pitched for us. He was coming off a year that had major red flags.
It was so similar to the Braves getting Mike Gonzalez. He velocity was down the year before they got him, he was all over the place. You can’t be surprised he needed his arm rebuilt after that type of showing.
Bay has played 150 plus games every season so i think all thats bs to apease sox fans that they signed lackey not him. It speaks volumes about omar’s creaditability that evryone beleives jj. seams like we have lost faith in fo and to be honest they have brought it on themselves.
Just makes you think, what else have they covered up or not telling us.
This franchise is pitiful. It is run like a cheap circus.
haha…”cheap” circus. Thats a very accurate name. We can’t even run a circus efficiently.
Very odd, and I don’t know if Putz is upset at the organization or what otherwise why would he give this interview, why not?
Also, I don’t see how this has anything to do with Beltran or Bay. I thought the mets knew about Putz’ bone spur and he pitched with it in the WBC (i assume of his own choice). He pitched with a bone spur, well all knew that.
The biggest issue I have with this is the don’t tell anybody mentality. I’m not sure if this is standard in organization or not, but it seems weird.
You make a good point about the WBC also last time he talked he said he was mad at the doctors in seatlle because they said he did not need surgery. Something is not right with he changing stories.
I think it has something to do with Beltran and Bay.
If the Mets medical staff evaluated a player, gave him the green light, and then that player went down for the season a couple months later, (an injury that may have cost him some significant amount of money), I could see a player making “independent” decisions with a memeber of the medical community not affliated with the Mets. Hence, Carlos Beltran.
Bay came out and said that Gammons was wrong about the medical reports that Boston had gotten, but this calls into question everything he said. Who’s to say that the Mets, upon giving a 4 year, $65 mil contract, didn’t say, “the new york media jumps all over these injury reports, so try to keep a lid on that stuff”
This Putz interview is just one little thing. But when you consider it along with all the other little things that have happened in the last 4-5 years, the Mets organization does not look one bit credible and it would be hard to fault anyone who doesn’t trust their decisions.
The last thing I heard about Bay he went to like six doctors after the red sox said he needed surgery and they all told him he didn’t need the surgery. It would not just look bad for the mets if it came out the sox were right, it would look bad for him and all his doctors, i don’t see a guy like that lying about a possible injury
Putz had a bone spur, it’s something that happens all the time we’ve had Putz, Maine, and Santana all have the same type of issue, it’s painful and it does not do well to pitch on it but can pitching on it make it worse? I’m not sure but Maine was up ready to pitch at the end of 2008 but Jerry said he wouldn’t use him because he didn’t want to make him worse. Santana said he’d pitch if the Mets had have been in a playoff race and Putz had no problem pitching in the WBC when he knew he had a problem.
I don’t have a problem with Beltran getting his surgery from his own doctor, the whole thing was a bit of a mess but i’m not going to jump off a bridge over it. I am just stating what I see, Bay will be fine, Beltran will be back, Putz is in Chicago, best of luck to him.
Surprise, surprise.
ENJOY THE DREAM LAND – - – -
Lets dream for a second, because reality in Mets land is scary. Just imagine:
Tom Seaver buys the Mets and hires Mike Piazza as the GM and Piazza hires Wally Backman as the Manager. Piazza looks like a business mogul as he stands in one of the suites surveying the team, like Tony Stark and his empire. He makes incredible trades and common sense free agent signings. He employs the most incredible medical staff, in fact a part time hospital opens out of the side of Citifield (sorry McFaddens). The Wilpons are seen selling programs at Dodgers stadium after having lost their fortune when they reinvested with a Madoff, this time his son, who cleans them out. Omar becomes a regular on Metsblog, not as a writer but as a fan and he posts his opinions, which are usually off the mark. Wally instills his hard nosed mentality, which makes its introduction to the league in the first Mets Philly game of the year. When Johan buzzes Victorino up and in, Shane charges the mound and Johan puts him to sleep with one clean shot to the jaw (with his right hand). Big Ryan Howard makes a run, but he’s form tackled at the hip by the Mets own Ike Davis . . . . wake up, your gonna be late for work, get to work, read Metsblog – NNNNNOoooooooooooo!!!!! haha
And Piazza has Iron Maiden performing “Meet the Mets” in the 8th inning.
Haha, oh yeah.
I don’t blv putz that why is name is putz.he had to take a physical it required it almost every player I see putz has a lier and that everyone bashing the mets so he like hey why not me get in on it.see the thing is putz play in the world baseball classic im wondering if they give them physical before they play?but anyways the media and everyone else going to keep bashin the mets cause they are a hot topic.everyone sayin free agents didn’t want to come here so how come bengie said he would of come if they gave him the second year?then joel got a better offer from the angels which Im glad he went there because he a fluke year..neverless look back at other injuries when david wright,jose reyes,john maine,johan santana,the list goes on and on they all said the ny mets treat me right didn’t want me to rush back to field they were always cautious and that at of the year I decide to had surgery as a player they were supported for me..so now just because this looser putz says something which I think sucks now he suck with white sox then cry sayin it mets fault.carlos beltran now that was probably a miscue on cummication and stuff but now everything ok..everyone human ppl make mistakes
that was painful
So, um, Mr. Selig, are you going to be a commissioner or not? The Mets need to be punished for this. And, I’m not speaking from the perspective of not getting the physical, that’s just plain stupid and they have already been punished by trading all those players for a guy that stunk (because of the injury they refused to deal with). I’m talking about hushing a player and making him play while injured, even when they knew it was against his well being. Now, of course, there is Putz (who clearly has earned his name). He should have told the Mets to go take a walk and not played and gotten his arm fixed right away.
You mean the same player who pitched in the WBC the same year just a month or two before going down? Also it wouldn’t be a shocker for a team to want to keep injury information hush hush.
What information? They never performed an MRI! They didn’t even know the extent of the injury. This team needs regime change…in a BIG way.
In terms of keeping info hush hush, they told the player not to say anything about his pre-existing injury and then allowed him to play in the WBC, during spring training, and during the season.
What the Mets did was force an injured player to play and not discuss his injury. Like they were hoping it would all go away. The Mets buried their heads in the sand.
Garbage management. GARBAGE.
The problem is we don’t know what he did or didn’t get, examination-wise. Putz said didn’t really get a physical. But what does that mean.
As far as everyone being surprised that a team would tell a player to stay hushed about an injury, I’m just not that shocked and frankly I have to believe that it goes on throughout the MLB more than we know. Not that I agree with the practice, I’m just not too surprised.
DYSFUNCTIONAL – look it up in the dictionary and Omar and Fred’s picture will be there. What a joke this organization has become.
I found them under incompetent actually.
Sounds like sour grapes to me! Piling on from a guy who’s pissed he didn’t get his 11m option picked up and had to take an 8m paycut.
I also think this stuff happens alot around baseball. And plenty of teams tell their players not to discuss injuries– see what happens when they do?
I think everyone knew Putz was a risk– but I tell you, in April and May when he was pitching the 8th backed up by KRod, I liked what I saw.
I think we’re compounding things with all of the injuries. Fact is, we never really gave up that much to get him, so while the trade is a failure, it’s not a complete one…
It’s one thing to tell a player not to discuss an injury. It’s entirely other thing to tell him that and send him out to play with tests or further medical examination.
“According to Putz, the Mets told him not to discuss the injury with reporters.”
Welcome to Omar Land.
this is so disgusting. why are they treating humans like objects. so basically they just wanted to fool the fans and get there money .. wow what a bunch of gaymo’s
How do you trade for a guy coming off elbow surgery and not have his elbow checked out? Incompetence doesn’t even begin to explain this.
I think this just shows that ownership’s first priority is not winning baseball games, and that is why the Mets under this owner will have a very difficult time winning a championship.
How come this news is not coming up anywhere else ? . i hope this doesn’t get covered up that would be just wrong. i hope the mets get fined big for this
Fined for what ?
so you dont see nothing wrong with this news ?
Joekurioo
You are assuming its true. And even Om is inocent util proven guilty.
Its has been pointed out he pitched wbc, he blamed docs in seattle at first. Also the mets not picking up his option cost him millions. So all i’m saying is i think he has very little creadiatbility
I know why most people beleive this “putz” but as rhinoman points out the mets did not pick up his option. that gives him 6 million reasons to lie! plus he pitched in wbc and previouly blamed doctors in seatle hes full of it!! imo.
When can we trade the Mets medical staff?
“That it’s my career, and when you know something doesn’t feel right, and they want to take these little sidesteps to do something, and just wait and wait and wait, you got to get it taken care of instead of trying to prolong the inevitable.”
Isn’t that about the same thing Beltran did?
Reminds me a bit of V. Zambrano.
The Mets are like a store going out of business where much of the merchandise is defective, but they’re trying to hide that from their customers using deception and spin.
This organization is a barrel of monkeys, beginning with Wilpon.
You won’t see me in Citi. At least this year.
I wouldn’t knock Putz on this one. I’m glad these stories are coming out b/c maybe it will lead to front office change. There are a ton of stories in the press lately about how the Mets run their organization. It’s probably the only way to get real change.
I agree.. something with the FO needs to be done! The more bad press the better.
This is literally mind-blowing.
This is a silly point. Of course he didn’t have a physical. How could he have? The deal was done during the winter meetings a few hours after the K Rod signing.
The Mets knew that Putz could be damaged goods and that is why they did nopt give up anything for him.
This is just more media baddgeringf of the Mets! They are an easy target but lets not let the facts get in the way. Every one loved this deal when it happened. “Look at the mets. They really went out and fixed that bullpen”.
Bottom line…the Mets knew he was damaged goods and in their haste to erase the misery of a second straight September collapse, they made the trade anyway. Shame on them.
And Putz pitched anyway…shame on him.
yup, the point of the trade was to unload Heilman, what they got back didn’t matter much.
I’m not sure that wat their goal. They took on $9M of salary. They could have done it much cheaper; and given 11 players and 3 teams involved – much easier.
Speaking of medical reports, WFAN just reported that Escobar was given a clean bill of health by team doctors. I emphasize “team doctors.” Which was more than what Putz got.[
The more the Mets say, the dumber they look.
They knew he had an arm problem yet they still didn’t examine him. This is a pitcher, not a 2nd baseman. A guy who makes his living WITH HIS ARM!!!!
Someone please tell me this is a fracking dream and I’ll wake up, it will be 4 years ago, and we’ll still be in the hunt for the division
Only 141 comments? LMFAO!
Most people either just getting home from work, or getting ready for dinner. It will pick up soon.
met fans are already speechless.
Ha ha. That’s a much better reply than mine.
Probably more accurate too.
Guys, let’s just file this one under “Reasons to Fire Omar Minaya and Reorganize Management Structure” and move on.
Same old Mets.
Same old Mets.
Same old Mets.
At this point, we need no comments. It is expected. And no one is angry at the Mets or Minaya on this one because, heck, this is how we do it.
I do have something I read. Torrealba said he was interested but the Mets don’t have “the money” to spend on him. I hope this isn’t serious because we are several million less than last year. This is an indication that the Wilpons did get hit harder from the Maddoff scheme then they admit to.
Think this through:
They offered $6M to Molina and $7M to Pineiro (give or take, I forget the exact numbers). That’s $13M. So they can afford $1M. I’m guessing they don’t want to and Yorvet is getting even.
I am speechless.. How many times will the Mets mess up. Do the Mets really want the fans to believe them. This probably don’t belong here but the Actions speaks louder than words. But so far, there is very little (if any) actions and more words from their claim of shuffling new players, to change in medical protocol. So far it seems there is none with Beltran debacle. Any Lets go Mets….
A ship without a rudder, and it’s taking on water fast. This story speaks for itself. You could blame the medical staff, but not if they neglected to have him examined in the first place. Guess I have to apologize about my previous comments about Beltran and Boras. If Omar doesn’t get fired over this somebody needs to be held accountable. Its like flushing money down the crapper. If I were Wilpon Sr., I’d be screaming.
The problem is, I have no doubt that the Wilpons are the head of the snake. And Omar is Destro. Cobraaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!
Um, how does this statement explain anything? It only echoes what Putz already said. If anything, it makes me wonder why they even took the chance of letting him pitch in the WBC, ESPECIALLY without the proper buildup. Plus, they said that he pitched with the bone spurs in 2008, as if to say that’s more proof that he was probably going to be ok in 2009, but correct me if I’m wrong, didn’t Putz miss a ton of time in 2008? So why on God’s green Earth would you actually reference 2008 to support your position? If anything, it only makes them look even more foolish, unless I’m missing something. And of course no mention of telling Putz to put a lid on it. I don’t see them addressing that one at all. So, what DID the Mets think was gonna happen? Again, how does anyone continue to defend how this team is run?
What I don’t get is that signing putz negates the logic that omar stated on his sny interview. Why in the world would u trade for a guy and not have him take a physical. Aren’t gms supposed to be diligent. Then u tell a guy to be hush hush about his injury. Where is the due dilligence? Any other profession someone would be fired for this, but not the mets. Here u get paid million of dollars for being imcompatent.
And still no one on the medical staff has lost his job. Unbelievable. What would it take for someone to be fired?
Do you really think every player goes through a physical before a trade is made? Hello?
For an acquisition as critical as Putz last year, I don’t know how you don’t require some sort of exam. Looks like they didn’t even look at his medical records.
With all the medical problems the Mets had, and their complete inability to properly diagnose an injury, this is just icing on the cake. Someone (or two or three) on the medical staff obviously has no clue what they are doing.
screw it i dont care what happens now. i just want baseball to start off season sucks too much drama
see jose run see joes run run jose saw it my own eyes smiling ever since
when i watched Jose run. it just made me forget everything else. Jose runs the Mets Win
At this point do we even need to comment these posts? We already know we’re the laughing stock of the MLB. I’m just preparing myself for whatever is next… I mean… it can’t be as bad as last year?
. . .right?!
You know how it could be worse than last year? If the Mets have a mediocre season, say 83 wins or so, maybe even worse, whether it be because of lack of overall talent or injury, or both, causing the Mets fans to get even more upset, all the while more embarrassing off field crap continues to pop up, and the Wilpons STILL refuse to acknowledge anything is wrong, they still continue dragging this team down, without any hope in sight, then that’s how 2010 could be worse. Afterall, how many of us are wondering whether if this team does struggle as many are predicting it will, that maybe, finally, the Wilpons will wise up and start to really do things differently? If this team does have a mediocre to disappointing season, that would be our only consolation, right?, that the Wilpons will promise to do better (as if their promises hold water), perhaps Fred even removes his son from power, and he hires a well respected president of operations, a new GM that we all love, and even brings back Bobby Valentine, or promotes Wally Backman…how many of us are hoping that if this season DOES go sour, that at least we can take solace that things will change, in a massive way. However, what if it doesn’t matter? We do have a poor season, other crap goes wrong, we continue to be the laughing stock of baseball, and yet, the Wilpons continue running this team into the ground, Jeff remains the COO, ridiculous decisions continue to be made every day, very little, if any, money is spent on next year’s vaunted FA class as many had hoped, continuing the trend of promising one thing, only to never deliver, all the while the other already competitive teams only get better, and Jeff continues a war of words with Beltran, and so on and so on. What if, no matter how bad the season is, nothing actually changes, in fact things only get worse? What if there really is no hope? Wouldn’t all that make this year even worse?
The only change that needs to be made, but won’t is for Freddy to realize that his sonny boy is not executive material, and is not GM material. But then he also has to do something about it. Will never happen.
this such bs pitchers pitch with bone spurs all the time. forget him he is yesterdays news. if his arm why did he pitch in wbc that is voluntary ? he just pissed off becauce they didnt pick up his option.
Ok, I’ve seen this argument made a few times, that is, since Putz had the bone spurs, then why did he pitch in the WBC, as if the blame is also on Putz…but that misses the point. This ridiculousness of this situation has nothing to do with what Putz did or didn’t do, it’s about what the Mets failed to do. Putz could’ve made a million poor decisions, but that doesn’t change some pretty damning statements: 1) The Mets were aware of Putz situation; 2) Despite being aware of it, they still made the deal without having him checked out by their own people; 3)Despite these chips, and his injury plagued 2008, they still ALLOWED him to pitch in the WBC, where he ramped up to in season speeds before he was ready, or was even allowed to be in game type pressure situations that wasn’t part of the Mets season; 4) And that all this was kept from us, that Putz was told to keep quiet, to lie to the media, which damns the Mets management on multiple levels; 5) As a result of all this, Putz struggled, and eventually went down for the year sometime in May, forcing Mets fans wonder, what the hell did they THINK was going to happen?
On top of all this, it’s what it says once again about the shady practices employed by the Wilpons and management. It reeks of another example where the Mets went out of their way to provide the illusion or appearance of improvement, solely to excite the fanbase in order to generate season ticket sales. Classy.
great post
I was a little suprised the Mets did not try and bring Putz back. His option was a lot of money but maybe they could have made a deal work. Ok so he was not healthy last year but now he is. The mets should follow up on their deal. I thought we gave up a good amount players to get him, and they just let him walk. The team had possible control over a possible dominant arm in their bull pen and let him walk. Oh that’s right we got Green also so were good.
Think about it for a minute. If Putz signed for $3M what sense would it make for the Mets to essentially sign him for $9M when his going rate was $3M? Who would have traded for him unless the Mets chipped in $6M? What sense does that make?
Well, maybe he could have helped them win some ballgames this year. This seems to be something that is ignored in the Mets front office.
They could have signed Gonzalez for half that and had someone NOT coming off arm surgery. And do you really think a set up guy warrents $9M, especially one coming off arm surgery?
Just because Omar didn’t sign him doesn’t make it a stupid deal.
Never said pay him 9M. I said work out a new deal.
Ok, that would have been $3M. Then you can’t trade him without his permission. Then the WS would be willing to trade what? They could have gotten him for $3M and not trade anyone. And given today’s news do you really think he’d sign here for what the WS were offering only so he could be traded there? Does that make any sense? Or is it just a reason to complain?
Bottom line is the Mets have nothing to show for this trade. If the Mets could have had him for 3M then I would have liked that deal. And yes I am complaining on how this team is being run in and in regards to their medical staff.
It sounds like to me…he would not have signed here. For 3 million, I would hope the Mets would have done it. I just dont think he would have wanted to come back here
WhY exactly was lost? Smith? Heilman? Chavez? Vargas? None of them would have helped. None of them would help this year. Carp; maybe. I mean he has got to be better than Murphy; but that’s not saying a lot. He can’t hit lefties and he is a lesser version of what Ike is supposed to be. Give it a rest. You’re complaining about this deal is silly. Yeah, Putz was damaged goods. But he was a crap shoot gotten for a load of crap.
maybe Chavez could have filled in when Carlos went down. Maybe Smith doesn’t get injured and can work out of a distaster of a bullpen Heilman gets used as a chip for someone who doesn’t have chips in his elbow. BTW maybe this is revisionist recollections but I believe there were rumors about JJ Putz’ elbow before the trade, It sounds like the Mets may have been better off calling the 3 stooges (paging Dr Howard Dr Fein Dr Howard) Maybe they actually did from the history we saw unfold Darn good thing we listened when the said Kazmir’s motion was too violent to sustain success and got the “other” Zambrano. While Scott K has not been Nolan Ryan or Tom Terrific Victor surely was not either Who is running the asylum? What is the consistent character problem? NON BASEBALL PEOPLE GIVING THEIR INPUT sorry for yelling Jeff
Chavez would have no way carried the team last year; and would you really have wanted him instead of Pagan? Really?
Smith is a MI guy; he is nothing special.
Heilman was flipped to the Cubs for garbage. He is not a “chip”.
Putz was a high risk move. If he weren’t then do you really think he would have gone that cheaply? If he worked then great; if not then they really lost nothing of worth.
The M’s flipped Heilmann for:
Ronny Cedeno and his career OPS+ of 61 – yes, 61!
Garrett Olsen who has developed into a borderline MI reliever. That was after an ERA of 7.00 +/- as a starter.
Which one of these fine players would have salvaged 2009? Or, for that matter, anything? Face it: Heilmann had no trade value.
The Putz deal was not a good trade; nor was it a bad trade it was a crap shoot. And if this is the way people react then thank God they didn’t sign Sheets
this was not give me their garbage and i will give you ours. Endy is a viable 4th OF before his acc last year. Joe Smith did well for us 2 yrs ago. Did our front office send dreck to the M’s? No we sent healthy players who got hurt They sent us a P who had chips -when there was alot written about potential problems w/ his arm and they do not get a physical or MRI Maybe a dump trade; but as between Endy and who did they get back–oh yeah that OF that got buried on the pine and saw no PT even after about 3 doz LF and a few CF got hurt–i would prefer Endy
Not saying Pagan is not a player but this was ineptitude at its finest hour if they really did not get a physical /MRI Even if they would still make the trade after getting the info maybe they get more back or give up less to m’;s tribe for damaged goods and then take their chances
So Endy’s OPS of .638 was infinately preferrable to Pagan’s .870. Really? Endy’s .8 WAR was preferrable to Pagan’s 2.8? Really? Endy was a 4th OF at best. Smith is a MI reliever. So you’re complaining about a MI reliever and a late inning defensive OF. Oh, and Heilmann and his 5.50 ERA. What do you think this package would have brought if Omar wasn’t the blathering fool you are convinced he is? Fielder? Halliday? Who? Putz was a gamble. If you didn’t like this gamble, which is obvious, then I can assume Omar the Fool did the right thing by not signing Sheets. Correct?
The Mets trade for Putz at the Winter Meetings. They had the M’s medical records. They knew what they were getting. Guys pitch with spurs a lot. They took a bit of a gamble.
Putz comes to Spring Training. He has a physical. The physical tells the Mets what they already know; no new information is revealed to them. Putz has an MRI and ANOTHER physical before the WBC (which is clearly an awful idea). He is declared sound and ready to pitch.
As the year goes on, the pain begins to get worse. He attempts to play through it. Eventually he admits to himself and they team that he can’t. He is shut down and has surgery when another examination reveals the bone spurs have worsened.
He tries to come back. Needs shoulder surgery. Season over. The gamble didn’t pay off.
I fail to see what the Mets did wrong here, other than gamble on a player who was an injury risk.
My only question is this: is it common practice for a team to give a traded player a physical prior to spring training, or do they rely on the medical records of the player’s previous team? Because it does seem to me that either/or is industry acceptable. Free agent signings always seem to involve physicals… but not so sure about trades.
Also, what does “I never really had a physical with the Mets” mean? He either had a physical or he didn’t. Which was it?
The New York Mets: everyone’s favorite whipping boys.
This story played right into the hands of all the winners and complainers. the mets dont “want to win” they are total”incompetant” blah blah . I’m sick of the constant complaining and crying give it rest close out this non story Putz is yesterdays news.
So many (most) of you folks are out of control. There is nothing unusual about this situation. Relax.
This is like a forum lynch mob!
JJ putz gonna have a good year this year
he’s with ws who cares if he has a good year.
Any chance ESPN would take Omar and we could take Steve Phillips back? Yeah, its officially gotten that bad. Ownership is part of the problem at this point too- but they aren’t gonna fire themselves. Willie was strung along much too long th 1st collapse-an extension for Omar, second collapse-extension for Jerry. ORGANIZATIONAL COLLAPSE-?????? Somethings gotta give here. This club needs a new direction in a hurry!
Why did this guy insist on pitching in the World Baseball Classic if his arm was hurting? Period.
I’m guessing it was because nobody viewed it as a big deal. Both the Mets and Putz. If I’m a major league closer traded into a set up role with a $9M option with a bone spur you can bet your last dollar I have my own doctors. So Putz’ doctors had to give him the green light. If he didn’t listen then that was stupid. And given everything at risk (financially) for him not having his own doctors would be stupider. Bottom line, this was a gamble that didn’t pam out. The Mets really didn’t lose a lot in the deal.