New York Mets: A Scott Boras Conspiracy Theory

Has the New York Mets’ face-of-the-franchise become a phony? Does Matt Harvey only care about himself and is just waiting to leave the team to get a mega-contract? Did his agent intentionally create turmoil to rattle the team and help the Nationals?

By now, we have all heard superstar agent Scott Boras’s comments regarding Matt Harvey and his innings limit. For those who haven’t, Boras is pushing for a strict 180-innings limit (including playoffs) for his client. He quotes the surgeon, Dr. James Andrews, in his claim and says ignoring this limit would be defying the doctor’s orders. This sudden public announcement comes at an inopportune time, because the New York Mets’ division lead could be in peril.

There’s nothing wrong with looking out for Harvey’s health. The miscommunication is the fact that the hard cap was brought to attention now, and not in spring training or earlier in the year.

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The Mets have been very cautious with Harvey up until now. Last year, they did not allow him to pitch in September so he could get extra rest and be ready for 2015. Throughout the year, they have been careful with his innings and pitch counts, often prematurely removing him from games. The Mets even skipped some of his starts in order to conserve his arm for the playoffs. This was all done against his will, and he has accepted it because it would be for the greater good. Harvey was a big opponent of the six-man rotation earlier this year, and insisted that he would much rather maintain his five-day rhythm. The recent comments bring this all into question.

Fans, up until now, have assumed that general manager Sandy Alderson controls the innings limits, and tells manager Terry Collins to limit the innings. However, the recent comments by Boras cause many to question whether Harvey, Boras, the surgeon, Sandy, and Terry are on the same page. This may not be the case now.

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There’s been no hard scientific evidence that throwing too many innings shortens careers or makes you ineffective. Just look at fellow Met pitcher Bartolo Colon. The innings limits are just arbitrary guesses, and don’t take into account many other contributing factors. The recent C.C. Sabathia decline and frequent Tommy John surgeries have become the main focal points of this change in baseball. Many teams seem to be forgetting that pitchers in the olden days used to throw many innings while still having long careers. The new era of baseball has taken some away from what made the game special back then.

When asked about Boras’s comments about the doctor’s 180 inning cap, Matt simply replied “Right now, I’m focused on Tuesday” (referring to his next start against the Washington Nationals). It’s interesting that these comments were made just before the huge divisional series against the Nats, right when the Mets’ once comfortable division lead is slipping. Many people across the Internet have been pondering the likelihood of a conspiracy theory aimed against the Mets.

Agent Boras is widely known and is well-respected across the MLB. He seems to be even more respected by the Nationals’ roster because many of their players are his clients. Of note, Boras currently represents Max Scherzer, Bryce Harper, Anthony Rendon, Jayson Werth, Stephen Strasburg, Danny Espinosa, and Gio Gonzalez. Many of these are big-name players who already have/will get big contracts. Maybe Boras is trying to pull some strings and favors to help them gain an advantage.

Sep 2, 2015; New York City, NY, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Matt Harvey (33) reacts as Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Darnell Sweeney (24) rounds third after hitting a solo home run during the seventh inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

In reality, Boras could just be testing how much leverage he has over a baseball organization. He probably wants to call the shots around the league and maintain his high profile, money-first status. Regardless, the timing couldn’t have been worse for the Mets. They were just hitting their stride and were on their way to the postseason for the first time since 2006. Stirring up some controversy and causing a distraction in the Mets organization may be a ploy designed to ruin their playoff hopes. This upcoming stretch against the Nationals could impact the NL East division winner. A poor series by the Mets could bring back memories of 2007.

On Sunday, Harvey attempted some damage control with his post on The Players’ Tribune. For many fans, this is too little, too late. In the New York media, any famous athlete can easily go from beloved to hated in the blink of an eye. The end result will probably be a compromise among all parties, which could end up hurting his availability if the Mets make a deep run. Even before the comments, we all knew that Harvey would not be used as much as Madison Bumgarner was in last year’s postseason.

If this whole fiasco was done without Matt being in the loop, then fans should feel bad for Harvey, and rightly so. His agent has unintentionally tarnished his New York hero, “Dark Knight” reputation and brought negative attention to the team. Boras had no reason to publicly make those comments, especially at this point in time. These are things that need to be discussed internally and not brought under the public microscope.

Whatever Boras did has put a dent on Harvey’s once-golden reputation. Dreams of a World Series run were temporarily shattered to pieces. The once promised 2014 “All In” year was already moved to 2015 due to Harvey’s Tommy John surgery. Now, that looks like it may not pay off after all, because one agent prioritizes money more than winning. Or maybe he was partially to blame for the Strasburg mess-up and wants to “get even”.

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