Matt Harvey Is Only Ruling Out One Team - Hint: It’s the Mets

by Joe DeMayo September 26, 2018 0 Comments

Matt Harvey told C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic in regards to his upcoming free agency that he is open-minded about his future home, with one exception. Harvey said “There’s only one team out there that I would not sign with. That’s about it.” Even though he didn’t directly say it, I am going to be extremely bold here and declare that one team is undeniably the New York Mets.

Matt Harvey said he was open to just about anything in free agency, but... "There's only one team out there I would not sign with, that's about it."

— C. Trent Rosecrans (@ctrent) September 26, 2018

Harvey didn’t directly say the Mets, but let’s confidently say that is who he meant. I do think it is a bit bizarre to rule out a team publicly ever. This isn’t “The Dark Knight” Matt Harvey who can be super selective in his future home. He posted a 7-9 record with a 4.94 ERA and only struck out 7.6 batters per 9 innings. I understand that the divorce with the Mets was not exactly amicable, but I find it hard to believe if the Mets offered Harvey the best contract this off-season that he’d say “nah, I’m good”.

With that said, the feeling from the Mets likely is that they don’t want him back either. It is kind of like if you dumped your boyfriend or girlfriend, and then months later he/she says to people “I will not go back to my ex.” Well guess what Matt? We don’t want you back! The Mets are well positioned with starting pitching going into 2019 with Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, Zack Wheeler and Steven Matz all showing promise that 2019 can be another great year for the starting rotation. The Mets will need a #5 starter or at least some real depth behind Jason Vargas. Matt Harvey likely wasn’t a real consideration here, it’s just funny to hear him try to rule out a team given his market likely won’t be overly robust.

I wish Matt nothing but the best but he screwed up a bunch here and at times appeared as if baseball wasn’t close to his number one priority. He can be bitter about the ending here, but he has to remember that the Mets simply wanted him to go to Vegas and have a start or two to get back rolling and come back to the rotation. They offered this and he declined, thus he was moved. It happened to Zack Wheeler and after his stint down in AAA he came back and obviously pitched much better. This theory has worked with pitchers in the past, but Harvey’s stubbornness along with his past actions led him out of town.

The Mets don’t care that you rule them out, they ruled you out of their future plans the day you were traded for Devin Mesoraco. I will always be thankful for 2015 and everything that Matt Harvey did for the organization on the field. There are some real great, memorable moments like how awesome Harvey Day was every 5^th day while he was at his peak. Him starting the All Star Game at Citi Field was also a good one. I am not sure what type of contract Matt Harvey is expecting this off season, but I hope he gets a good one somewhere. It just won’t be with the Mets as he clearly does not want it and neither will the club.

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