Mets Merized Online

Updated 3:20 pm

The Reyes situation has just gotten a little more clearer and less muddled after GM Omar Minaya talked with reporters in response to comments that Jose Reyes made that he was fine.

“I had a conversation with our doctors, a conversation with his representative and we’re all in agreement that he has elevated thyroid levels.”

One of Jose Reyes’ agents, Chris Leible, confirmed the call with Minaya and said there is no communication issue.

“We’re on the same page with the Mets and we’re waiting for the test results.”

Also, according to a report by Adam Rubin, a source told him that Reyes may not even need any treatment and that just a simple dietary change could be the only course of action.

Updated 11:20 am

According to David Waldstein of the New York Times, Jose Reyes has a ‘mild and perhaps temporary case of hyperthyroidism,’ which might not require treatment, as stated by his agent, Peter Greenberg.

“We’re waiting for the final results tomorrow,” Greenberg said, “but all indications are that it’s the most minimal case of hyperthyroidism possible.  The doctor was very pleased and so is Jose.”

According to Waldstein, Reyes could be cleared to play within days.

Maybe this isn’t nearly as bad as the Mets doctors let on…

Original Post 1:30 am

Hours after the New York Mets issued a statement via SNY that said Jose Reyes has an overactive thyroid, the star shortstop said “No way, my thyroid is fine.”

Here we go again…

In a story that gets stranger by the minute, Reyes told ESPN Deportes’ Enrique Rojas that he’s fine.

“The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I’m fine and that there’s nothing wrong with my thyroid. The test [taken to follow one conducted during his physical] showed that I’m fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed.”

Last week doctors cleared Reyes to play Friday, but team doctors in New York wanted to take a closer look at him and scratched him from his scheduled game and had him fly to New York for more testing. The Mets said on Tuesday that Reyes is expected to remain in New York while the results of additional blood tests are used to determine his treatment after tests confirmed he has an overactive thyroid. The additional test results aren’t expected back before Thursday.

This is the second time in as many months that the Mets and one of their players have had conflicting reports about their health, diagnosis and treatment, the other being Carlos Beltran.

It looks like this will become yet another media circus, as once again it appears that somewhere between the player, the doctors and the Mets there is a total breakdown in communication.

In a span of three hours, both the Mets and Jose Reyes have issued statements regarding this alleged thyroid condition, and each version is a complete contradiction of the other.

Why does this keep happening?

According to Yahoo! Sports, All-Star closer Francisco Rodriguez returned to New York Mets camp on Monday after being hampered by conjunctivitis for more than two weeks. He also threw a very successful bullpen session this morning at Port St. Lucie.

Rodriguez had been told to stay away from the team until the pink eye cleared, but the contagious infection took longer than expected to improve. He was sick when he reported to New York’s spring facility, but his eye went undiagnosed until just before full-squad workouts began on February 25th.

The right-hander said he went to the doctor on Friday and was cleared to return Monday, although he still is infected. He continues to take eye drops and isn’t allowed to wear contacts yet.

“It feels much better,” Rodriguez said. “It’s still a little uncomfortable, but it’s good to be around. I was cleared to be around the guys, so it’s fine.”

While away from the team, Rodriguez found anyway he could to throw and was limited to playing catch with his brother, Edward, in the driveway of his home, but Rodriguez said he is not worried about his progress. He told reporters that he probably only needs one bullpen session before pitching in a game, and is looking forward to getting back into a regular routine.

Rodriguez last stepped on a mound about a week ago when he emerged from hiding for a light bullpen session.

“It’s not the same thing playing catch as doing bullpens, being on the field and doing field drills,” Rodriguez said. “It’s completely different, but the good thing is I played winter ball and I am good.”

Rodriguez first had conjunctivitis in his left eye but it quickly spread to the right eye. He said his entire family back in Venezuela has conjunctivitis as well, and now his brother has it in both eyes.

Rodriguez plans to wear prescription sunglasses for a few weeks until his eyes feel completely healthy.

“The first couple days the infection was really strong, and I kind of lost the vision,” Rodriguez said. “It made it a little blurry, but right now I don’t have that, so it’s good.”

Good to know that K-Rod is back to camp and is slowly feeling better. Hopefully we will be able to get a look at him soon in a spring training game once he feels comfortable on the mound once again.

According to Adam Rubin of the Daily News, Kelvim Escobar has ceased all pitching activities and is still feeling weakness in his shoulder.

“When I tried to throw last week, it was weak,” Escobar said. “It didn’t feel right. … I will take my time and do my exercises.”

Escobar said he was ashamed he’s not able to contribute. He’s sure to open the season on the disabled list.

“It’s tough coming to a new team,” Escobar said. “You don’t want to be in the position I am right now. I have pride, and sometimes I feel embarrassed being in a position like this.”

It doesn’t sound like we’ll have Escobar back anytime soon if at all. Just last week, Escobar said not to count him out from returning by opening day. Obviously, that’s not going to happen now. He was reportedly throwing on flat ground, but now has stopped picking up a baseball entirely. His $1.25 million contract is guaranteed for the 2010 season.

Only 24 hours after being cleared to play in todays game against the Marlins, shortstop Jose Reyes has been scratched again because of concerns about his thyroid levels. He will be going to New York for further testing instead.

Adam Rubin of the Daily News, who has been closely following this story, gives this latest update:

It may be an imbalance in thyroid levels with Reyes. He is headed to New York. Test is Monday. Reyes said he’s had no symptoms and feels fine. He said doctors believe it’s an overactive thyroid. The test will be Monday, and result not available for 48 hours after that. Reyes will not be permitted to do physical activity until then.

Reyes was cleared to play in todays game, but local doctors were overruled when the results were reviewed in New York. Reyes as well as the Mets team doctors are very concerned.

“I have to be concerned about it and find out what’s going on. This is important. We’re not talking about my leg. We’re talking about my health, so I have to be concerned about it.”

The test results could take 48 hours to come back.

Update 2:25 pm

Adam Rubin reports that Jose Reyes has been cleared to resume playing after a second visit for bloodwork. Reyes is likely to just take batting practice today, then enter the lineup tomorrow.

Original Post 10:58 am

Jose Reyes has been scratched from today’s game against the Cardinals to go see a doctor for a follow-up to his physical.
According to Adam Rubin, Reyes said that the initial physical raised a small concern with doctors, so he needed to do additional blood work this morning. He’ll visit the doctor again at noon for results. Reyes added that he has no physical problems. “I’m fine,” he said. “Nothing serious.”

Reyes, also later added that the visit has nothing to do with his surgically repaired right leg and that he is not sick and feels great.

Despite the worry-warts and sensationalists that are in full bloom today in the Mets blogosphere, this is all routine and even Mike Pelfrey had to follow-up with a second round of blood tests as well.

As reported by WFAN and now confirmed on Mets.com, manager Jerry Manuel said he doesn’t think Kelvim Escobar’s ailing shoulder will allow him to be the team’s eighth-inning man by Opening Day.

Escobar, who has been limited to just one Major League appearance in the past two years because of right shoulder woes, said he’s been playing catch every other day, but he added that there’s still no timetable for when he’ll return to the mound.

“They don’t want to rush me back, because I’ve already had a couple of setbacks trying to rush myself,” Escobar added. “This time, I want to do things right and make sure.”

Yesterday he was quoted,

“I don’t want to hurt myself — I don’t want to rush,” he said. “Once I get ready, I want to be unstoppable.”

Jerry Manuel feels that Escobar will need to step back from baseball activities and take it easy , and that he won’t be ready to contribute in any capacity — setup role or not — by the start of the season.

“I don’t see it right now,” Manuel said. “Hopefully, I’m wrong, but I just don’t see it.”

I don’t know if this is something you’d call a major blow, because in my opinion I don’t think it is. It just sounds like the Mets are now inclined to be more cautious with their players whereas last season it seemed they were more interested in rushing them back onto the field.

I think that at some point, we will see Kelvim Escobar grab hold of that setup role, but we might have to wait until May before that happens. This probably opens the door for guys like Bobby Parnell, Nelson Figueroa and Fernando Nieve to all make the team to start the season.

According to David Waldstein of the NY Times, the Mets are trying to void their waiver claim on left-handed pitcher Jay Marshall, who has not reported to camp because of a pre-existing shoulder injury.

Jay Marshall, a left-handed reliever the Mets claimed off waivers from the Oakland Athletics last month, did not report to camp because of a sore shoulder. The Mets said it was a pre-existing injury and asked the commissioner’s office to void the claim

The Mets have good case as last season, while with the Athletics, Marchall had been sidelined due to tendinitis in his throwing shoulder. This offseason the A’s designated him for assignment, and the Mets claimed him on January 8th.

It is now in the hands of the commissioner’s office, who should rule in the Mets favor.

Waldstein also offers another possible reason for the injury and writes,

But with the Mets’ recent history of injuries, this situation sounds more plausible: Marshall was sitting at his home in Missouri on Jan. 8, minding his own business, and the instant the Mets filed the claim, he felt a piercing pain in his throwing shoulder.

Everybody is a comedian these days when it comes to the Mets…

Friday Update

Adam Rubin of the Daily News spoke with Kelvim Escobar who downplayed the shoulder soreness and expects to be ready for opening day.

“It’s more like getting my strength back, getting stronger,” Escobar said.

On being ready for the April 5 opener against the Marlins, Escobar added: “I think so. It’s all going to depend how my arm responds to the exercises and how quickly my shoulder gets its strength back.”

Escobar had pitched in winter ball in Venezuela and felt great. He did meet with the Mets team doctor who told him, “You should be fine.’”

Yesterday, Johan Santana had told Adam Rubin that the claims were not true regarding Escobar’s inability to grip a baseball and that he played catch with him last week.

Update 11:56 am

NBC Sports’ Craig Calcaterra has just added some additional info on the status of Kelvim Escobar, and it’s not good.

It was reported yesterday that Mets’ pitcher Kelvim Escobar is suffering from a sore shoulder and will be limited as spring training gets going down in Port St. Lucie.  It may be much more serious than that, however: a source tells me that Escobar isn’t even able to grip a baseball right now, and there are concerns that he’s seriously injured.

I called the Mets just now, and a team spokesman said that they had no comment beyond what’s being reported in the papers today. We’ll obviously update as soon as we hear something further, but right now it seems that someone who knows someone with the Mets will have to do the confirming here, because they aren’t talking about it.

Again the injury news comes out in drips and drabs and in a cloud of mystery… The more things change, the more they stay the same…

Original Post 2/17 11:58 pm

Only yesterday, Mets GM Omar Minaya spoke so highly of the recently acquired Kelvim Escobar who he envisioned as the Mets setup man this season. Then 24 hours later, David Waldstein of the NY Times reports the discouraging news.

While working out in preparation to join the Mets, reliever Kelvim Escobar felt some discomfort in his right shoulder, so the Mets will proceed slowly with him. He will not be up to speed with the rest of the pitchers when he reports to camp on Thursday.

Adam Rubin of the Daily News adds that Escobar experienced the trouble last month while ramping up for spring training and was examined by team doctor David Altchek.

I have one question…

Was Omar Minaya clued in on the fact that his would-be setup man was experiencing trouble with his shoulder and had already been examined by team doctor David Altchek?

It sure doesn’t seem like it does it?

I’m so confused by the continuing lack of communication in this organization when it comes to the medical conditions of their players.

Hopefully, Escobar can recover quickly and fall too far behind his other teammates in spring training.

Updated: 2/2 9:00 AM

Kevin Kernan of the New York Post, adds some perspective to the Jose Reyes workout which he personally observed.

“For two hours yesterday, I watched Jose Reyes, testing his surgically repaired right leg time and again during the strenuous workout. There were 90-foot dashes; explosive 10-yard sprints, on which Reyes would grab a tennis ball on one bounce; ground balls hit to his left and right; high choppers where he had to fly across the diamond; weight-lifting; dynamic stretching; core exercises and hitting.  Test after test, and each time Reyes came through with a huge smile.”

“I’ll be ready in 2010,” Reyes told Kernan.  “Be there, it’s going to be a show.”

As I said yesterday, the return of a healthy Reyes will be more significant than any off season signing the Mets could have made.

Original Post: 2/1 6:00 PM

According to Kevin Burkhardt of SNY via Twitter, we have some great news to report on Jose Reyes who sprinted 90 feet 5 times in a row in a workout today in Long Island.

After his workout, a very jubilant Jose Reyes triumphantly proclaimed,

“That’s how I do it. I’m ready to play baseball… Ready! I’m very good and very happy and I feel 100% ready.”

This is probably the best news we’ve heard in weeks Mets fans. I am totally excited about the return of a healthy Jose Reyes to the top of the lineup, and I’m eager for spring training to begin already.

No matter how hard the Mets’ front office tries to damper my spirit, it’s the players who I admire and support with every ounce of my Mets passion.

To watch Reyes sprint and run and “smile again” is such a load off my mind, and it has done wonders for a newly rejuvenated enthusiasm as well. I can’t wait until I can finally hear the sounds of leather popping and bats cracking as the Mets usher in spring training in just a couple of weeks. Apparently, Jose Reyes feels the same way…

“I can’t wait to get to Spring Training to try to play baseball again, because I haven’t played in such a long time. I love the game. I love to be on the field. My legs are better than I expected… My explosiveness is there.”

A full season from a healthy Jose Reyes will be more significant than any other signing the Mets could have made this offseason.

Shoot on over to SNY and check out Kevin Burkhardt’s video. You’ll be glad that you did. LGM