Sandy Alderson: No Matt Harvey Limit from Dr. Andrews

Sandy Alderson says Tommy John surgery guru Dr. James Andrews never gave him a specific innings total for Matt Harvey. Which means he is calling Scott Boras a liar.

To recap, noted liar Boras told Jon Heyman of CBS Sports on Friday that Andrews put a limit of 180 innings on Harvey this year. By the way, he is at 166.1.

“This is not a club’s decision. This is a doctor’s decision,” Boras said. “Any club that chooses to defy a surgeon’s wishes is putting the player in peril.”

The Mets jumped all over this, saying they have no intention of shutting down Harvey in 13.2 innings, far short of him pitching in October

“We’ve consulted with Matt all the way through. We will continue to do that,” assistant GM John Ricco said. “I don’t think anything will change. … I think we’re very comfortable with the fact that we’ve had a plan. It has involved the doctors all the way through. To this point, they’re still fine with that plan. We all think it’s a reasonable way to go.”

Now Alderson is chiming in, speaking to Fox Sports midget Ken Rosenthal on Saturday morning. In a three-part tweet, Rosenthal writes:

Just spoke with Mets GM Alderson. Says Dr. Andrews gave him no absolute limit on Harvey, said there was no need for an absolute limit.

Alderson said Andrews talked about avoiding fatigue of season and not disrupting Harvey’s rhythm is he intended to pitch in the playoffs.

Alderson: “He didn’t say 180 was the number. He was not categorical at all.” Added Drs. Andrees, El Attrache, Altchek all disagree on limit.

Now, Alderson has been known to have trouble with the truth as well. But in this case, I do not think anyone is lying. I think everyone heard what they want to hear. Boras probably asked Andrews if 180 innings was a good limit and Andrews probably said yes. And Alderson probably asked Andrews if 180 was a hard limit and he probably said no.

But this whole thing is still Boras’s fault. There really was no reason to go public with this. Unless Boras wants to say “I told you so” if Matt Harvey pitches too much and gets hurt again. Of course, it is all about the money for Boras. He wants Harvey to remain healthy so he can get big money and Boras gets his big commission.

It is about winning for the Mets, as well as keeping Harvey healthy so they can win in the coming years. The Mets have done a good job of managing Harvey this season. In the end, this will be Matt Harvey’s decision — not Scott Boras’s, not Sandy Alderson’s. If he feels he cannot pitch, he won’t. If he wants to pitch, he will, within reason.