PORT ST. LUCIE — In this case, what’s good for the Mets is bad for Page Six.
But this ranks literally as a no-brainer for the Mets. They will utilize zero brain cells to make this call.
Matt Harvey will be spending the bulk of his 2014 here, at the Mets’ complex, and not in New York, as he prefers. It’ll be fewer evenings at Tao for the rehabilitating ace. And more at Friendly’s.
“I want to stay with the team,” Harvey said Sunday, after arriving at Tradition Field. “I want to do all of my stuff up there. That’s where I’ve been doing it all offseason. If I had that opportunity and I could stay with the team, that’s where I would like to be.”
“To have it done here, specifically when someone is on a long-range program. I’d be surprised if we deviate from that norm,” Mets general manager Sandy Alderson told The Post on Sunday. “But each case is individual.”
Harvey won’t be the exception to the rule when he sits down and talks this out with the Mets’ brain trust this spring. In addition to the practical reasons behind this, there’s some symbolism, too: Harvey needs to be out of sight and out of mind for this Mets campaign. His long-range future is too important to this franchise to be integrated with the fortunes of the current Mets.
He underwent Tommy John surgery last Oct. 22, and he said he’s “still in the strength phase” of his recovery, as he has yet to throw a ball. That’s why the Mets let him work out of New York. Gym equipment is gym equipment, no matter where you operate it.
By the time the Mets break camp in six weeks, however, Harvey should be either throwing or close to doing so. At that point, it would be silly for him to set up shop in New York.
“With each injury, we kind of look at it as an individual event,” Mets assistant GM John Ricco said. “We try to figure out, where is the best place for a guy to get healthy? The school of thought for New York would be, that’s where our major-league trainers are. We have a [physical therapist] who works out of [Hospital for Special Surgery].
“… In the past, most of our guys have been here. Because we have a facility and because of the weather.”
The list of people who have summered here includes Pedro Martinez, Johan Santana and Billy Wagner, all of whom were coming back from arm procedures. None spent every single day here, as Martinez owned a home in
Miami and Santana in Fort Myers. But this was their base. They didn’t occupy the time of the Mets’ training staff, which focused on active players. And they could obey their schedules without worrying about April and May showers and cold.
The Mets will fly Harvey up to New York on occasion for checkups and check-ins, which will allow him to accompany his teammates for some games. “It’s a different game when you can stay around and being there, actually being in the dugout, rather than watching them on TV,” he said.
Harvey initially put off his Tommy John surgery last year in the hopes of avoiding it. He has mentioned wanting to return to action by the end of this season. He wants to rehab in New York. That all speaks to his competitive spirit, to his not wanting to miss a thing.
Yet we all saw Harvey’s remarkable upside last year, and therefore we all understand how important it is for the Mets to look past this year’s urgency to improve and appreciate the bigger picture when it comes to Harvey. Every indication is they get that.
“I don’t have a crystal ball, but make no mistake: This guy will not come back early,” manager Terry Collins said on Friday. “He will not come back until we know he’s physically, 100 percent ready to go.”
And the best way to expedite that, the Mets know, is to get Harvey out of the Big Apple for now and keep him in the Sunshine State.
Tough break for Page Six. Maybe, as a favor to The Post, Zack Wheeler can start embracing New York’s nightlife?