DENVER – Interim manager Jerry Manuel says Moises Alou might not return to the Mets this season and could decide to hang them up at age 41.
With Alou already on the disabled list for the third time this season due to various ailments, Manuel said he at least has to plan for the veteran left fielder to miss the rest of the year.
“I can’t plan that [Alou’s] bat will be back in that fifth or sixth spot or fourth spot or wherever you put him,” Manuel said before yesterday’s 3-1 win over the Rockies.
Alou’s latest stint on the DL began June 13, when he lasted less than one full game before aggravating a strained left calf that had originally sidelined him in late May.
It’s highly unlikely Alou would retire anytime soon, considering he still is owed nearly $4 million. But according to Manuel, the embarrassment of that ridiculously brief return in mid-June – coupled with the fatigue of rehabbing future injuries – could prompt Alou to call it a career.
“I think he’s determined to get back [this season],” Manuel said. “I do believe that if this happens in the fashion that it happened before, I think he’ll have some serious problems, and he’ll head to the house.”
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Second baseman Luis Castillo was rested with a sore left quadriceps and will sit at least the first game of the home series against the Mariners that starts tonight.
Manuel also would not rule out a DL trip for the oft-injured Castillo, who aggravated the quadriceps problem in Saturday night’s 7-1 loss here. He was replaced by Damion Easley.
“I don’t see Luis moving as well as I’d like to see him move right now,” Manuel said. “I know he’s not quite 100 percent, and we’re going to do what we can to keep him fresh.”
Catcher Brian Schneider also sat out and is likely to get a couple of more days of rest after bruising the fifth metacarpal of his left (glove) hand on a first-inning foul ball Saturday night.
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Manuel said he hopes to have right fielder Ryan Church back in the lineup by this weekend’s Subway Series. Church, out since June 9 with post-concussion syndrome, is expected to take batting practice with the Mets before tonight’s game. He will then make one or two rehab assignments with the Single-A Brooklyn Cyclones.