Once upon a time, Matt Harvey was the ace of a budding New York Mets pitching staff. A few years later Harvey can’t find a new home.
According to Jon Heyman of MLB Network, the one-time Dark Knight, Matt Harvey, has recently tried out with the Toronto Blue Jays.
The man who would save the New York Mets from their dark years. For a while, Harvey did.
Harvey was one of the best pitchers in baseball from 2012-2015. Even Tommy John surgery couldn’t stop him from making an impact. After missing all of 2014 recovering Harvey came back strong.
In 2015, Harvey led the Mets staff to the MLB postseason and eventually to the World Series. His final moments in Game 5 of the World Series were not his finest, and that began his downfall.
Fast forward five years and Matt Harvey can’t find a home. He’s a free agent after splitting time between the majors and Triple-A in 2019. It’s been a rough road for him, but he might be finding his way out.
The Blue Jays make a ton of sense as a potential landing spot for Harvey. It’s an incredibly young team that could use a veteran in their clubhouse to help lead them. Harvey could take on that leadership role.
The issue is that Toronto doesn’t make sense as a destination from Harvey’s point of view. The Rogers Centre is a hitter haven making it a difficult place to rebuild value, but Harvey might not have any other options at this point.
With baseball suspended Harvey’s situation is likely going to be in limbo. Baseball freezing puts all free agents in a difficult spot. They have no idea when they can expect to even try out for teams, yet alone sign with one.
Many of them will likely have to find works in another field to make ends meet. With many businesses effectively shutting down due to the coronavirus that’s going to be difficult as well.
Baseball shutting down is the scariest thing that could have happened for guys like Matt Harvey. Just like it would be for anyone else.
