Yesterday, Daniel Murphy (tired legs), Nick Evans (shoulder) and Fernando Martinez (knee pain) were flown to New York to be examined by Dr. Struan Coleman at the Hospital for Special Surgery in Manhattan.

Today, the team announced the following in a press release.

An MRI revealed that Daniel Murphy, who was hitting .320 in winter ball before his injury, suffered a mild left hamstring strain with no loss of motion or strength in the leg. Murphy, a candidate for the starting second-base job next season, will rehab his hamstring and resume baseball activities as tolerated.

Fernando Martinez, who recently felt pain running to first base in winter ball, has a case of mild arthritis in his right knee, according to an MRI. He will wear a brace and continue to strengthen his knee before resuming baseball activities.

Evans, who has spent his offseason rehabbing the left shoulder strain he suffered at the end of September, has been swinging a bat pain-free and has suffered no setbacks. He will progress with baseball activities “as tolerated,” the team said.

The Mets are calling it good news for their young trio, although I don’t see how the case of Fernando Martinez could be termed good news at this point.

Having an arthritic knee at 22-years old is nothing to put a smiley face on. Especially for a player whose game is built on speed as well as hitting.

The Mets are reporting it as mild arthritis, but reports from eye witnesses who saw Martinez yesterday, said he was limping badly.

When you consider all the other leg injuries Martinez has suffered from, including three different hamstring problems and one to his calf, you have to be worried about this diagnosis, especially if it ends up being chronic.

I think that moving forward, the Mets can no longer operate with the expectation that Fernando Martinez will one day be their right fielder of the future. If it happens, great, but lets just get him to at least complete one full season in the minors before the high expectations start flying again.

At this point all the Mets can do is hang onto him and pray, since whatever high trade value Martinez once had, has completely vanished into nothing.