New York Mets have every right to release Matt Harvey and end the soap opera

The New York Mets have every right to cancel the Matt Harvey Soap Opera. When will the last episode air?

The Matt Harvey saga never ends, does it? When he’s on the field for the New York Mets, the club’s former ace struggles. As everyone knows by now, this led to his recent bullpen demotion.

Since becoming a relief pitcher, Harvey hasn’t fared too well either. Worse is how he has behaved.

In the locker room, he’s dismissive and arrogant. Away from the clubhouse, Harvey is living it up in Los Angeles.

During the Mets’ recent road trip in San Diego, Harvey was spotted in Los Angeles. You don’t need to have a geography degree to know this is a bit of a hike.

Whether he was drinking, partying, or trying to get away from the team for a few hours, it’s not a good look for Harvey. At this time, he needs to be on his best behavior.

Harvey owes the Mets a favor. They gave him a contract this year when they could have easily non-tendered him in the offseason. Faith from new manager Mickey Callaway and pitching coach Dave Eiland kept him in New York. Teams did ask about him in potential trades, but they stuck up for Harvey. Thus far, he has rewarded them with a poor performance and a poorer attitude.

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I’ll admit, I am not a fan of what Harvey is doing. I can understand why he isn’t pitching well. The injuries he has battled back from are not easy. For him to even get back on the field at all and compete at the major league level is honorable itself.

However, there’s no reason why Harvey needs to continually make himself the bad guy. Yet here we are in May and I’m wondering when they will finally release him.

Harvey can thanks teammates Steven Matz and Zack Wheeler for his spot on the Mets roster. If they were pitching well, the Mets could say sayonara to him much easier. Because each has struggled at times and Jason Vargas stunk in his first outing, the Mets may want to remain a little more cautious.

As much as I dislike Harvey the man, I think he can have a good career as a relief pitcher.

First, he’ll need to accept this role. He needs to put this childish behavior behind him and actually go out there every few days for an inning or two and get outs. This means being prepared each game. Harvey will need to learn how to say “no” to party invitations.

I won’t pretend to know much about Harvey’s personal life. There is enough out there, though, to suggest he’s not thinking about his team first. Selfish players like this have no on MLB rosters when their performance is just as rotten as their motive.

Next: Kenley Jansen's struggles a warning about Jeurys Familia

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The Mets have every right to release Harvey. Unfortunately, the stink will linger a little longer and the Mets will hope to avoid turning 2018 into a soap opera.