Matt's Gotta Hurt! Harvey to DL, More Moves Coming?

On the day where Jeremy Hefner made the decision to undergo Tommy John Surgery, the Mets organization, their fans, and just about everyone involved with the Mets got close to the worst news they could've gotten yesterday. After experiencing forearm tightness and being admittedly tired after his last start, the Mets sent young phenom and ace Matt Harvey to undergo an MRI, which revealed a partial tear of the ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) and was placed on the DL today. He is almost certainly out for the rest of 2013. When the swelling goes down, the Mets and Harvey will have a decision to make... Whether to undergo Tommy John Surgery or to try to rehab it. If he goes with the surgery, he will most likely be out all of next season. He should really just have the surgery. If he doesn't, and is able to just rehab it, it will be a ticking time-bomb just waiting to pop. I'd much rather miss Matt Harvey for the 2014 season than have him miss the 2017 season when we will be competitive. The risk is of having the surgery is not nearly what it used to be. Most pitchers who have undergone the surgery recently have come back stronger. Some examples are Stephen Strasburg, Jordan Zimmermann, and Adam Wainwright. He should just have the surgery now!

Placing Matt Harvey on the DL was not even close to the only move the Mets made today. They traded 2 of their most productive players from this season to the Pirates, shipping away John Buck and Marlon Byrd. John Buck had been backing up Travis d'Arnaud since his call up, and one topic of discussion was whether he would want to resign with the team to help mentor the young d'Arnaud or try to get a starting job somewhere else. It is a mute point now. They have called up Matt den Dekker, Anthony Recker, and Robert Carson. The Pirates sent 19 year old Dilson Herrera our way as well as a player to be named later. Herrera, mostly a 2nd basemen, was the #11 ranked prospect in the Pirates system. I don't have a problem with the trade, and Herrera has a chance to be a very good player, but Marlon Byrd has had one heck of a year. He will be missed in Flushing.