The Mets statement read: “Carlos Beltran had worsening of osteoarthritis of the right knee during the offseason. He had not been experiencing pain following the conclusion of the season and into his early offseason conditioning. The symptoms returned to the point where pre-spring training conditioning became too painful. He elected to undergo arthroscopic clean out of the arthritic area of his knee by Beltran”s personal physician Dr. Richard Steadman today in Colorado. He is anticipated to return to baseball activities in 12 weeks.”
The statement did not answer the following questions:
1) If Beltran’s knee was so bad why wasn’t surgery performed earlier?
2) Did Beltran apprise the Mets of his condition? If so, when?
3) If so, why was there a delay in surgery?
4) If Beltran did not inform the Mets of his condition, then why not?
5) Why does this stuff only seem to happen with the Mets?
Beltran suffered a bone bruise last June and was limited to only 81 games.
Believe me, fingers are going to be pointed in the coming days. This is inexcusable. If Beltran’s condition was a deterioration, then it was progressive and something should have been done earlier because somebody should have known. As an injured player, the Mets should at all times be aware of his progress.
This nonsense about “should be ready for spring training,” is nuts to me. They’ve got to examine him on a regular basis, and if Beltran was progressive, he shouldn’t been more diligent in informing his employer about his condition.
Neither Beltran nor the Mets look too sharp in this. So much for all the changes.
NOTE: Please vote in the new poll on who should take the hit for this.