Though the New York Daily News chose this for Saturday’s back cover, the above image might’ve been more appropriate. With the war of words between agent Scott Boras and the New York Mets escalating, Matt Harvey has apparently sided with the former in the ongoing discussion over whether or not a James Andrews-sanctioned innings limit had been imposed.
Matt Harvey tells reporters that he's always considered 180 IP a limit, and won't answer questions about the playoffs. Can't believe this.
— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) September 5, 2015
Putting aside for a moment Harvey’s right to put his own well-being and future earning power ahead of the club’s shot at relevancy for the first time in almost a decade, how the hell did the situation get to this point with 29 games to play? How could Terry Collins and Sandy Alderson be unaware that Harvey believes he’s on a hard innings limit of 180? How can Harvey publicly moan about the club opting for a 6-man rotation (purely to protect his precious, surgically repaired arm) and then adopt the Boras party line two months later?
It might be the height of exaggeration to claim Harvey and Boras have cast a long shadow on an otherwise fantastic 2015 Mets season, but I don’t think I’m being Rob Dibble hysterical when claiming the following : Harvey’s rep as the consummate competitor just got dented. Does bailing on your teammates at crunch time impact whether or not you get another Sunday Styles feature? Probably not, but some of us were duped into thinking Matt Harvey was a baseball player before he was a brand.