After deciding to designate Matt Harvey for assignment, the Mets are now sorting out exactly how his tenure with the organization will come to an end. Initial trade discussions seem not to be generating much traction, per Jeff Passan of Yahoo Sports (via Twitter), who says that the team is offering to “eat a significant amount” of the remainder of Harvey’s salary in hopes of securing something in return. Somewhat unsurprisingly, the response from rival officials has to this point been that they’d prefer simply to pursue Harvey if he passes through waivers. If that occurs, he’ll surely either be released or decline an outright assignment, at which point he’d be a free agent who could sign for a pro-rated version of the league minimum, leaving the Mets on the hook for the balance of the $5.6MM he’s owed.
More from the National League:
- New Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos has been discussing his team’s promising start with quite a few outlets of late as excitement has mounted. He largely credited the prior regime with “outstanding” work in accumulating and developing talent in a chat with Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Anthopoulos also says he’ll be “open-minded to do things” if the team is in position to push for the postseason at the trade deadline, though he notes there’s still quite a lot of baseball to be played before making any final assessments of where the 2018 roster may be headed. In comments to MLB Network Radio on Sirius XM (via Twitter), Anthopoulos did note that payroll constraints and an ongoing focus on the future would continue to weigh significantly in the team’s decisionmaking.
- Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon acknowledged after his rehab appearance today that he has a hairline fracture in his injured toe, as Chelsea Janes of the Washington Post tweets. That explains his somewhat extended absence after fouling a ball off of his foot. The important thing for the Nats, though, is that Rendon seems to be ready to be activated as the club attempts to extend a six-game winning streak.
- The Padres have a plan in place for assessing the balky elbow of catcher Austin Hedges, as Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports on Twitter. He’ll be given a week or ten days of rest before it’s decided whether he needs to undergo an MRI. Hedges hit the DL recently with a bout of tendinitis. It seems the hope remains that the issue will resolve itself with some down time. Hedges has struggled at the plate in 2018, hitting at a .173/.235/.293 clip to open the season.
- Diamondbacks third baseman Jake Lamb received an MRI and cortisone shot after reporting continued discomfort in his injured left shoulder, per MLB.com’s Steve Gilbert (Twitter links). That said, the belief is that this will not constitute a significant setback. It’s still disappointing to hear that Lamb is not yet back to health, as the club no doubt hoped he’d already be nearing a return at this point. Given his extended absence, it stands to reason that he’ll require some rehab time once he is cleared for game action. Fortunately for the Snakes, Daniel Descalso has filled in admirably.
- Prized Cardinals righty Alex Reyes is prepared to begin a rehab assignment next week, as MLB.com’s Joe Trezza writes. As he works back from Tommy John surgery, the high-octane hurler is said to be working in the upper nineties and looking good. That’s great news for the Cards, though the team is expected to handle Reyes with care as he ramps up fully. It’s still not clear how the organization will deploy the 23-year-old, who showed ample promise in his 2016 debut, once he is ready to return. But he’s building up as a starter and figures to be a valuable addition to the MLB roster in any role when he is activated.
sportsfan101
Harvey is a pos starting pitcher. His best chance to make it is to become a set up guy or closer. This is why MLB contracts should not be 100% guaranteed. The biggest issue with the MLB. No contract in sports should ever be guaranteed with how often so many players get hurt. Kudos to the NFL and imo having the best cba agreement in sports and even that is gonna change real soon.
padam
NFL isn’t guaranteed due to the nature of the sport. QB’s are the closest thing to getting most of the contract guaranteed.
Priggs89
Cousins has a fully guaranteed contract. And with pro sports being copycat leagues, I’m sure more will follow.
majorflaw
“No contract in sports should ever be guaranteed with how often so many players get hurt.”
Psst. The twenty first century is calling. You apparently want a return to the early days when teams could release injured players and owe them only seven days pay. “Come back if/when you’re able to play again.” No thanks. Players have worked for half a century to earn the rights they have today. Too bad if you and the mlb owners don’t like it.
66TheNumberOfTheBest
Players getting hurt is why they need guaranteed contracts.
Even the NFL disagrees with you as player’s contracts become guaranteed in the event of injury, see Ryan Shazier. The Steelers owe him the remainder of his contract whereas a non injured player could be cut.
davidcoonce74
So if you get hurt doing your job your employer should just be allowed to fire you with no compensation? Awesome. NFL contracts are absurd; 50% of NFL players file for bankruptcy within five years after retirement, while NFL owners are by far the wealthiest sports owner in the world.
Modified_6
Players making decisions to spend ridiculous amounts of money causes them to go bankrupt, not their million/s off dollars they’re being paid. Don’t make players out to be victims.
User 4245925809
Jack Clark and his fleet of cars comes to mind really quick. That guy would buy every classic/expensive car he would see and thought his career would last forever playing baseball when it was already on the skids and filed bankruptcy losing everything.. Players just make dumb decisions thinking they are better/worth more than they truly are and smarter than average people landing them in the gutter.
Bocephus
Link to that please.
davidcoonce74
blogs.wsj.com/experts/2016/02/05/the-sad-financial…
Bocephus
First off I refuse to subscribe to the Journal to read that story.
Bleacher Report, Sports Illustrated, and Time magazine have articles using the age of 50 for ex-NFL players who go broke and there’s no set percentage.
Now if we dial it over to MLB and combine the Major leagues with the Minors players the result is at a much younger age, especially with the Latin players.
thegreatcerealfamine
Will you please stop posting these imagined facts about the NFL…
Tyler 20
Wouldnt it be funny if you got hurt at your job, and your employer saw your comment? How is them getting hurt the players fault? its the risk a team takes when signing someone. dumb.
jorge78
Amen! There used to be NO worker’s compensation. The injured worker was free to commit suicide…..
mikeyank55
Hey 101–that’s why owners should use their brain and not another part of their anatomy when signing players. He didn’t want to run the risk of Harvey walking away and now will pay him to play for another team. It’s a small price to play for manipulating the kid into not following his surgeons advice and blowing past the innings limit in 2015.
stillerfan
actually, the nfl is the only sport that doesn’t have guaranteed contracts. If you look at the large signing bonuses and future soft cap hits, you can argue that in many ways nfl contracts are guaranteed.
STLCards33
What an absolutely stupid thing to say
Rickeo02
Whos better Harvey or Bucholtz?
slowcurve
We talkin Steve or Matt? Cuz Bucholtz is sho’ nuff better than the dark gnat.
Kayrall
wat.
baseballfanforever
Payroll constraints huh ? That means if the braves are fighting for a playoff spot, AA will only have the financial means to call up whoever is in the minor leagues or trade for a $1 million player — meaning no better than aging veterans and or lifetime bench players like Culberson.
Caseys.Partner
“Anthopoulos did note that payroll constraints”
Atlanta is the same size media market as Boston.
Google: Greg Maffei highest paid CEO
Greg Maffei looted $391 million back in 2012. That’s three years of the Braves payroll Maffei put into his personal bank accounts.
cakirby
Atlanta doesn’t carry the same market weight in sports like Boston does. The Braves, Hawks, and Falcons (to a lesser extent) all spend like medium/small market teams because sports don’t sell the same way in places like Boston. They’re working towards fixing that, but they aren’t there yet.
tylerall5
Also explains why the Thrashers has to move out of there
Bocephus
Falcons spend like every other NFL team.
Caseys.Partner
The Phillies previous owner Ruly Carpenter sold the Phillies to the current group citing Ted Turner paying Claudell Washington as much money as he did. Ted Turner made the Phillies owner cry uncle and sell.
The “payroll constraints” have popped up since Liberty Media became the owner. Greg Maffei is a straight up bloodsucker who wants to see his name at the top of all the super rich guys lists and he does it by looting every business he can grab a hold of.
jorge78
Aren’t the Braves stuck with a terrible TV deal the former media company that owned them at the time stuck them with?
Caseys.Partner
Show me this TV contract. What’s the link to the PDF?
Oh you want me to take the word of a MLB owner?
People have been telling me I’m crazy since I was five years old but no one ever told me I’m stupid.
RunDMC
You’re stupid.
STLCards33
Yeah you’re stupid
steelerbravenation
Yes they do
sufferforsnakes
I’m going way outside the box and guessing a Matt Harvey for Giovanny Urshela trade. Neither player has a place with their respective team, having been designated.
HubcapDiamondStarHalo
Why would Cleveland take on that salary?
bravesandcrewfan
They wouldn’t, the Mets said they’d pay it down.
Roll
I thought if the player were still under arbitration that if they refuses assignment they lose the remainder of the arbitrated salary. There was one player (i think it was pelfrey a couple years ago) accepted the minor league assignment instead of refusing it for that reason.. Forgive my ignorance if i am incorrect on that.
RedRooster
If a player has 5 or more years of Major League service time he can’t be sent to the minors without his consent. If he doesn’t give his consent they must either keep him in the majors or release him and pay the balance of his salary.