New York Mets: Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler to receive contract tenders

The New York Mets are set to offer contract tenders to the struggling Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler.

MLB teams with arbitration eligible players have until 8:00 pm ET on Friday night to tender contracts to those players they see fit. The New York Mets have a handful of decisions to make on that front. Two of those players set to receive tenders are players that have struggled after serious injuries, per Mike Puma of the New York Post:

"Matt Harvey and Zack Wheeler had disappointing seasons, but the Mets are set to tender contracts to both pitchers before Friday’s 8 p.m. deadline."

According to Puma, Harvey is expected to earn $5.9 million and Wheeler is slated for $1.9 million. Last season, Wheeler went 3-7 with a 5.21 ERA. He also had trouble with the long ball, giving up 15 in 86.1 innings. He missed 2015 and 2016 after Tommy John surgery so he could still be feeling his way back to his old form.

The situation becomes a lot more convoluted when it comes to Matt Harvey. Everyone saw the success that he had before he got hurt. He took New York by storm and reminded some of Tom Seaver when he arrived in Queens. He boasted a blazing fastball and he had the swagger that made him a New York type of pitcher. The future was bright.

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There were all of the off the field issues. We all began to wonder if he was a head case or not. All of those have been well-documented. Coming off of the first injury we had the innings situation that came out during the playoff run of 2015.

Harvey returned to our good graces with his performance in the 2015 World Series. Even though they lost, his battle to go nine innings in the final game was vintage Matt Harvey.

Then Harvey struggled the next year, and he needed a second surgery. Frankly, he hasn’t been the same pitcher since. From 2016-2017, Harvey’s combined record was 9-17. His ERA in 2016 was 4.86 and in 2017 it was 6.70. Harvey’s velocity, which previously was in the high 90s, struggled to push even the mid 90s.

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So it begs one to wonder whether or not Matt Harvey has anything left. Obviously that isn’t from an age standpoint as he isn’t even 30. His arm may simply never come back from two separate surgeries. Maybe he has a future as a reliever. Who knows? It will be interesting to see how he looks in 2018 as that will do a lot in determining his future.

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