Fans of the New York Mets have become conditioned to expecting bad news of late. The details announced on Saturday about first baseman Ike Davis’ health problems would have been met mostly with a resigned sigh.
Add another piece of bad news to the pile.
“Valley Feverâ€Â sounds more like a corny advertising slogan by Charlton Athletic than a genuine medical condition, but it is and it is not one to be taken lightly. The ESPN New York article describes it thus:
“Valley fever is a fungal infection found in desert regions of the Southwest. The fungus is released from the soil and inhaled. Davis spends his offseasons in Phoenix. The disease is treated with rest and drugsâ€.
We saw how debilitating the disease can be when outfielder Conor Jackson suffered from its effects in 2009. The MLB.com story on this even warns that in extreme cases it can lead to sporting careers being cut short.
Davis does not yet know for definite that Valley Fever is the cause of his troubles, but he and the Mets are working on the assumption that it is and right now he will need to take things easy. He may be fine to play regularly once the season starts; however it could also be something that leaves the Mets without their first choice first baseman for a considerable spell, just when they thought they would be getting him back after he missed much of the 2011 season with an ankle injury.Â
It’s the sort of uncertainty that Mets fans are getting accustomed to.
Johan Santana, their top earner this season at $24m, is making his way back from shoulder surgery and while the recent news on his recovery has been positive, there’s no way of knowing quite what they will get from their ace this season. The Mets’ second highest earner ($18.125m) is Jason Bay and he has had a decidedly mixed time with the team during the first half of his four-year contract, while their third highest earner David Wright ($15.25m) keeps being mentioned in news stories that would have him following star shortstop Jose Reyes out of the door and onto another team.
The Mets had an Opening Day payroll of just under $143m last year and it’s expected to be just over $90m for the coming season. That’s still a decent-sized budget, but not what you expect from a team in the biggest media market, playing in a ballpark that’s only three years old.
The team has modified the dimensions of Citi Field over the offseason to make it less pitcher-friendly (or more specifically, less hitter-unfriendly). Fans in the UK heading over to watch a game or two this summer, and following their team’s fortunes online listening to the excellent SNY commentary team via MLB.TV, can only hope that a healthy Davis is in the lineup and that the newly-positioned outfield walls are not the only thing worth talking about.
