As if we needed any more clues as to how dysfunctional the Mets organizational dealings are, here is a story today from CSNChicago.com detailing J.J. Putz’s stint with the team in 2009. The most damning quote from Putz was this one:

“When the trade went down last year, I never really had a physical with the Mets. I had the bone spur (in the right elbow). It was discovered the previous year in Seattle, and it never got checked out by any other doctors until I got to spring training, and the spring training physical is kind of a formality. It was bugging me all through April, and in May I got an injection. It just got to the point where I couldn’t pitch. I couldn’t throw strikes, my velocity was way down.”

No physical for a guy you just traded 18 players for? For a guy who was documented to have a bone spur in his precious right elbow? Talk about the height of incompetence.

The next nugget that strikes a nerve with me is the fact that the Mets told Putz not to talk with the media throngs about his injury. Obviously, it is not a new tactic by sports organizations to keep the media, and subsequently the fans who pay money to see these guys play, in the dark about injuries.

Obviously, the Putz in this situation was the one who didn't think a physical for J.J. was necessary (William Perlman/The Star-Ledger)

This one just rubs me the wrong way because of the way the injury manifested itself originally and the fact that the Mets pretty much brushed it off. First they trade for the guy before checking out his medical history. Then, they let the guy twist in the wind by allowing him to pitch with a bum elbow and stink up the joint to the tune of a 1-4 record with a 5.22 ERA in 19 innings of work. And you wonder why Carlos Beltran decided to get that knee surgery without consulting the Mets.