Which Liar to Believe?

Whom do you believe when one liar tells a story, and another liar denies it? It’s a tough spot, but at least there’s a hapless reporter to help further things along. In this case, the liars are agent Scott Boras and the Mets organization, and the hapless reporter is, of course, Peter Gammons.

According to a report in the New York Post, Gammons appeared on WFAN on Tuesday with a story about how Boras went to the Mets a couple of weeks ago, and proposed putting his client Oliver Perez on the disabled list so Perez could go down to Florida and be treated by a sports psychologist. Gammons said the Mets said no. “Jeff Wilpon didn’t think it was an appropriate thing to do,” Gammons claimed.

But a Mets source tells the Post’s Mike Puma that Boras never presented the club with this scheme.

Let’s look at this story. Gammons source was, of course, Boras. And in his usual thorough fashion, Gammons didn’t take any pains to confirm the story. He obviously didn’t call the Mets, because they would have given him the same denial the Post got. And this guy is in the Hall of Fame.

Boras is not the most reliable person when it comes to telling the truth. Neither are the Mets, who have proven in the past that their officials are a bit truth-challenged as well.

So whom to believe? I am going with the Mets on this one. There is no harm in admitting Boras made the proposal if he actually did. It’s not like Perez went on a killing spree after the Mets denied him help. And if Boras really wanted Perez to see a psychologist, he could have done it locally without going on the DL.

The only thing this little incident proves if that if you want to get your phony story out, Peter Gammons is your go-to reporter. He’ll take what you say as gospel. Did I mention this guy is in the Baseball Hall of Fame?

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Another Boras client, Carlos Beltran, is reportedly getting ready to make it back onto the field. Jerry Manuel said Beltran is on a “nice track,” and could soon start playing rehab games. That’s the good news from Manuel. The bad news is that the Mets might ask Beltran to play the occasional game in right field to save wear and tear on his knees. I seem to remember that the last time a centerfielder played out of position in right field, it left Mike Cameron with a smashed-in face — courtesy of Beltran’s head. It just seems like a bad idea. Let’s get Beltran back in the lineup before deciding to fiddle around with his position.