The Mets really are their own worst enemies, and it all starts with what is a terrible Public Relations Department. 

The Mets’ ace, Matt Harvey, was dealing with a private medical issue. He had blood clots in his bladder. The causes for blood in the urine can be scary. It can be caused by kidney stones, cancer, or in Harvey’s case, holding it in too long. The number one thing to take from this whole situation is that Harvey is healthy, and he will be ready to pitch on Opening Day. 

However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t a problem here. Why did Matt Harvey have to go through this publicly at all?  

Harvey had tests and a procedure done by this morning. The Mets could’ve said Harvey was going to miss today’s Spring Training start because he had the flu, or they wanted to give someone else a start while Harvey threw on the side, or literally anything else where you don’t announce to the world that Harvey is dealing with a private medical issue. While he is dealing with this, many people are cracking jokes or making nasty comments. Well, Harvey noticed:

Matt Harvey also chided people for the "nasty things" they speculated his condition might be. He's fine now. #Mets

— Anthony DiComo (@AnthonyDiComo) March 29, 2016

Again, why was Harvey subjected to this? In part, it’s because people like to make jokes. The bigger issue is the Mets made an announcement before one needed to be made. They made a private matter a public matter and subjected their ace to ridicule. By the way, now that the news is out that Harvey is alright, new jokes have emerged. This is a failure of epic proportions by the Mets organization. 

It’s not the first time Mets players have had a real issue with how the front office, and specifically Jay Horowitz, prioritizes the media over its own players. As Mike Piazza wrote in his autobiography, Long Shot (p. 259):

Because I’d the huge shadow the Yankees cast in the city, it seemed to me and other players that the Mets chronically catered to the press in the continual effort to get attention. In the process, they often exposed us – almost sacrificed us, in effect – to the jaws of the New York media monster. Our publicity director, Jay Horowitz, was a good guy who worked hard and loved the ball club, but I felt that he was more loyal to the writers and broadcasters than he was to the players. 

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[The front office’s] position seemed to be that players come and go but the stations and newspapers will always be around. The effect, for us, was a sense that we were constantly walking the plank with the sharks circling below. 

Once again, the Mets were more concerned about playing nice with the media rather than protecting one of its players. It was a problem with Piazza. It still seems to be a problem today. 

So overall, the Mets have no problem sacrificing their players and their privacy to the media. They have no issues subjecting their players to ridicule for what are serious health issues. Harvey deserved better than this. Piazza and his teammates deserved better when they were playing.

The funny thing is that while the Mets have no problem having their players have to answer questions about private matters like their health, they are still ducking the media when it comes to the Madoff scandal or Jeff Wilpon firing a single mother.  You see the Mets cozying up with the media only works when it comes to their players. When it comes to their own issues, they are nowhere to be found. 

There will be jokes that follow Harvey the rest of his career because of this. It never needed to happen. The Mets failed one of their players by subjecting him to mockery and ridicule they don’t allow themselves to face. The Mets front office is the real joke here.