Nighty-night Dark Knight: Mets to cut ties with Harvey
NEW YORK » The New York Mets said nighty-night to the Dark Knight.
Matt Harvey, once regarded as a premier pitcher who could join Tom Seaver and Dwight Gooden among the Mets’ greats, refused a minor league assignment and will be designated for assignment Saturday.
The 29-year-old righthander lost his spot in the rotation last month after four starts, and had a 10.50 ERA in four relief appearances.
“We’ve tried to find some other solution over a fairly long period of time,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said. “This was a long time coming. This is not someone who hasn’t pitched well recently. So I mean this is something we’ve tried to address, we’ve struggled with, we’ve wrestled with over two managerial regimes.”
”It’s the end of an era,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson said before Friday’s game against Colorado. “And I used that term in broad senses. Matt has been a cornerstone certainly of my tenure here, a tremendous prospect at the time I arrived, tremendous accomplishments during (Cahill 1-1), 9:05 p.m.
L.A. Angels (Skaggs 3-2) at Seattle (Gonzales 3-2), 9:10 p.m. the course of my tenure here. And it’s a very unfortunate, difficult conclusion.”
New York had hoped Harvey would be willing to work at the team’s minor league complex in Florida in an effort to regain form. Harvey refused.
“We feel Matt is a starter (and) needs to work on 4 pitches,” his agent, Scott Boras said in a text message. “In the bullpen a pitcher tends to focus on 2 pitches to get back to the rotation.”
After Harvey is designated, the Mets have seven days to trade him or release him. Because of Harvey’s $5,625,000 salary, a trade may be difficult to work Chicago Pittsburgh Cincinnati Arizona Colorado San Francisco Los Angeles San Diego
Thursday’s games
Washington 3, Pittsburgh 1 Atlanta 11, N.Y. Mets 0 L.A. Dodgers 5, Arizona 2
Friday’s games
16 17 7
W
21 17 16 14 11 12 15 24 10 15 15 17 21 Philadelphia at Washington Colorado at N.Y. Mets Miami at Cincinnati
San Francisco at Atlanta
L
.571 .531 .226
Pct
1 2 11 1⁄2
GB
.677 _ .531 4 1⁄2 .516 5 .452 7 .344 10 1⁄2 out unless the Mets agree to send cash as part of a deal. If Harvey is released, a team signing him would owe just a prorated share of the $545,000 minimum.
“Very pleased he is healthy and with more than needed MLB (velocity),” Boras wrote. “We have a lot of clay to work with to build the starter sculpture.”
Harvey is 0-2 with a 7.00 ERA in four starts and four relief appearances, leaving him with a 34-37 record and 3.66 ERA in six major league seasons.
“The move to the bullpen was dramatic in itself,” Alderson said. “So I think that at this point, pragmatism, realism far outweighed other considerations.”
Selected by the Mets with the seventh overall pick in the 2010 amateur draft, Harvey made his big league debut in July 2012 and became a major sports figure in New York — both at the ballpark and at Manhattan night spots.
The New York Post reported this week that Harvey was out partying in Los Angeles the night before pitching in San Diego. “Usually I get upset if a report is unexpected,” Alderson said. “So I guess the short answer is no.” Pittsburgh at Milwaukee Chicago Cubs at St. Louis
L.A. Dodgers vs. San Diego at Monterrey Houston at Arizona
Saturday’s games
Chicago Cubs (Chatwood 2-3) at St. Louis (Weaver 2-2), 2:15 p.m. Philadelphia (Velasquez 1-4) at Washington (Roark 2-2), 4:05 p.m. Colorado (Bettis 3-1) at N.Y. Mets (Matz 1-2), 7:10 p.m.
L.A. Dodgers (Maeda 2-2) vs. San Diego (Mitchell 0-3) at Monterrey, 7:10 p.m. Miami (Smith 1-3) at Cincinnati (Mahle 2-3), 7:10 p.m.
Pittsburgh (Taillon 2-3) at Milwaukee (Chacin 2-1), 7:10 p.m.
San Francisco (Blach 2-3) at Atlanta (TBD), 7:10 p.m.
Houston (Morton 4-0) at Arizona (Greinke 3-2), 8:10 p.m.