NFT: Good article on Mets injury and communication problems

"General manager Sandy Alderson and other Mets officials contend that the team is singled out for excessive scrutiny by the New York media and criticized for garden-variety issues that might earn other teams a pass. But interviews with multiple baseball sources debunk the perception that the Mets are simply unlucky. Those sources shared insights that suggest it might be time for the Mets to engage in some serious introspection in several facets of their operation.

Multiple people familiar with the Mets' operation -- most of whom spoke on the condition of anonymity -- say the team has a less-than-optimal command structure that allows routine problems to fester until they become major conflagrations. Too often, the Mets' approach leads to communication breakdowns, mixed signals or a lack of trust between the team and its players.

"It's the same old, same old mistakes,'' one industry source said. "The Mets are a successful, profitable organization. But no organization, over a protracted period of time, has more significant players on the disabled list. There's a failing across the board. And what changes have been instituted, if any?''

The media guide resumes are impressive enough. Head athletic trainer Ray Ramirez has 25 years of experience in the majors with the Mets and Texas Rangers and nine seasons in the minors before that. Dr. David Altchek, the Mets' medical director, is a respected surgeon whose New York office is on a short list with Dr. James Andrews and Dr. Neal ElAttrache as a go-to destination for pitchers with arm injuries.

But Altchek, with his busy practice at the Hospital for Special Surgery, is not a regular presence at Citi Field. And Barwis, the top strength and conditioning employee, works out of an office in Port St. Lucie, Florida, and is primarily responsible for training players in the offseason.

"Ultimately, these areas of expertise and coordination fall under my responsibility. It's not Jeff or Dr. Altchek or Mike Barwis. Whether it's coordination, or we're sending guys to the right rehab facility, or we have the right people visiting players in the offseason, this is all my responsibility."
General manager Sandy Alderson
So who's in charge? Multiple sources said the lack of a single medical point person allows for greater involvement by COO Jeff Wilpon in areas where he's lacking in professional expertise. They describe Wilpon as a micromanager who creates an environment in which the Mets simply whipsaw from one crisis to the next and are too often governed by how their decisions will be publicly perceived.

"Jeff gets in the middle of everything that's going on, and he ends up doing more damage,'' said a person who has been involved in the Mets' internal operation. "He meddles. I can't come up with a more appropriate term.''"


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