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Injuries Plague the Mets at Spring Training
With more injured teammates than healthy ones, the Mets struggle through spring training but feel they will have enough time to recover and go into opening day in good form.
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March 6, 2008 (FPRC) -- Despite the many injuries that have plagued the Mets so far during spring training, they remain hopeful that they will be at their full potential by Opening Day. However, that may no longer be possible after finding out that Moises Alou is scheduled for hernia surgery will be out of commission the next 4 to 6 weeks.
Out of all the their recent problems, this one hurts the most. As a result General Manager Omar Minaya may have to seek help with a possible trade. Minaya knew that productivity would be limited due to Alou's situation. Last year, Alou batted .341 even though he only appeared in 87 games. He's not off to a good start this year which doesn't say much for his $8.5-million salary.
Minaya still feels confident in his decision to trade Lastings Milledge and Carlos Gomez for Alou. Now the Mets need a good right hand banner with all of their lefties. Their only options are Angel Pagan and Brady Clark who were originally considered to be back-ups in the best case scenario.
Alou was sent back to New York because he was experiencing discomfort in his right groin area after the game on Monday. With all of these injuries occurring at the same time, it will take a lot for the Mets to be successful this year. Minaya hope to overcome the challenges that his team has been faced with and move forward.
This may be wishful thinking for Minaya considering that the beginning of the baseball season is approaching soon and the fact that there are more injured players than there are healthy ones. This puts them in an extremely disparate situation. At the moment, only David Wright, Jose Reyes and Ramon Castro are in good shape.
The Mets are already on the hook for $140 million this season and they won't be beating many division rivals if they have to resort to aging New Orleans Zephyrs and other teams' rejects, even with Johan Santana. Santana somehow pitched a good game yesterday with a three-inning, four-strikeout performance in a 3-2 win over the Dodgers at Tradition Field. Santana says he's fine and that he's where he's supposed to be.
Unfortunately, things aren't looking as well for most of his other teammates who are spending most of their time in the hospital or at home. Carlos Beltran, Luis Castillo, Damion Easley, Endy Chavez and Jose Valentin haven't appeared in any of the 8 games.
Alou and Carlos Delgado might just be showing their age. Alou, who is now 41, missed 2.5 months last year with a strained quadriceps muscle. His hernia is just the latest injury setback for him in a career filled with injuries. Delgado's hip complications might require him to receive many injections just to get him to a point where he can play. Catcher Brian Schneider has only made one start because of a strained hamstring. Ryan Church is recovering from a concussion after Saturday's collision with Marlon Anderson, who has a bruised sternum. Ruben Gotay has a badly sprained ankle. What a mess. Manager Willie Randolph is still optimistic and thinks that his team has enough time to recover and get back into the game.
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