After creating a media firestorm about Matt Harvey‘s innings limits during the season, Scott Boras has a much different take on the situation now. Boras says that he approves of how the Mets handled their right handed ace after all, and he thinks it’s what allowed him to pitch so well in the postseason.
“The funny thing was a lot was said about Matt Harvey not wanting to throw in the playoffs, and yet the entire design of what we were talking about in August was just that — how we could pare down his innings in September so that he can throw in the playoffs,” Boras said.
“And frankly, the Mets came out with a very good plan for that after discussion. The doctor agreed with it. It allowed Matt really long periods of rest in September, and frankly it allowed him to perform at probably his best levels because instead of throwing 250 innings, he threw 210.” (Anthony DiComo, MLB.com)
Boras initially stated Harvey couldn’t pitch more than 180 innings or else the Mets would be putting him at risk of injury. Harvey ended up throwing 216, and didn’t appear to show any signs of slowing down.
In 26.2 playoff innings, Harvey struck out 27 batters and maintained a solid 3.04 ERA while holding opponents to a .212 batting average.
While Boras’ issues with the Mets’ organization has cooled off, his feud with the Marlins continues to intensify. Miami threatened to remove Boras from talks regrading the workload of one of his clients, Jose Fernandez, who will be pitching in his first full season back from Tommy John surgery.
The feud with Miami goes back to when Boras criticized how they handled outfielder Marcell Ozuna, who is also a Boras client. Ozuna disappointed in 2015 and was eventually demoted to the minor leagues mid-season, but Boras claimed that performance wasn’t the motivation behind the decision.
“He’s a lifetime .265 hitter, and I can find you 30 players in the major leagues that went 1 for 36 some time in their career, and they did not get sent to the minor leagues,” Boras said.
“When you do those things, it sends a message to players, sends a message to the locker room and sends a message to everyone that looks at the organization that there is a calculus going on that is beyond performance.” (ESPN NY)
However, Marlins’ owner, David Samson, fired back by saying Boras is in no position to judge how a Major League team is run.
“My strong suggestion to Mr. Boras is that instead of resting on his 5 percent that he collects from his stable of players, he write a check and buy a team,” Samson said.
“Then he would have the opportunity to run a team that he claims to be so able to do. Until that time, he is in no position to comment how any Major League Baseball team is operated.”
Samson concluded: “Every decision we make is based on the best interests of the team, and always has been.”
