Banged-up Mets to reassess injury-prone players
Key takeaways
- NEW YORK -- Part of the New York Mets' offseason overhaul was acquiring Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. for every-day roles knowing their injury track records were extensive.
- "Certainly, we know we're taking a level of risk when we bring players in with injury histories.
- He landed there for a ninth stint with a herniated disk in his lower back April 30.
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NEW YORK -- Part of the New York Mets' offseason overhaul was acquiring Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. for every-day roles knowing their injury track records were extensive. Six weeks into the season, with Polanco and Robert still on the injured list and no returns in sight, president of baseball operations David Stearns acknowledged his front office will reexamine its evaluation protocol.
"I think we absolutely have to look at our risk assessment on injured players or players who get injured once they're here," said Stearns, whose club had the worst record in Major League Baseball going into Tuesday's series opener against the Detroit Tigers. "Certainly, we know we're taking a level of risk when we bring players in with injury histories. We're feeling that risk right now and it hasn't helped that a number of our players have gotten hurt at the exact same time."
Robert, 28, was acquired in a trade with the Chicago White Sox for utility man Luisangel Acuna and minor league pitcher Truman Pauley to start in center field after going on the injured list eight times over the past five seasons. He landed there for a ninth stint with a herniated disk in his lower back April 30.