When your manager storms into the training room and needs Daniel Murphy to volunteer to make a two-and-a-half hour road trip during spring training, you have some injury issues. Yes, it’s better to get it out of the way during spring training, however, with the Mets’ history of injuries over the past few years, it doesn’t bode well for them.
Ike Davis isn’t feeling the effects of his valley fever (yet). David Wright has yet to play this spring due to a strained muscle but should apparently be ready for opening day. Lefty specialist Tim Byrdak had meniscus surgery and is out 4-6 weeks. Scott Hairston will probably join him on the DL to start the season due to an oblique. Ruben Tejada has missed time.
Due to their financial constraints, the Mets couldn’t bring in other pieces to help them out. For example, with Byrdak out, they will have to figure out the left-handed reliever spot between Danny Herrera, Chuck James, Garrett Olson and Robert Carson. They aren’t exactly household names, but this is the kind of thing that is going to hurt a team when you have the biggest payroll decrease in baseball history.
The thing that helped the Mets last year, even though they didn’t end up being in contention, was they had a good amount of depth in triple-A. When Wright got hurt, they called up Justin Turner. When Jose Reyes got hurt, they called up Tejada. Now, if those guys get hurt, who comes up?
The deal they made with the trustee this week is really going to help the Mets, most likely, but it won’t this year. It’s going to take a few more years for the Mets to get back on track, and this year won’t be fun. The lack of depth is really going to hurt and may lead the Mets to having a top-five pick in the 2013 amateur draft. If the Mets are ever going to go back into contention, they may need to go down that path anyway.