On one side yesterday Mets assistant general manager John Ricco claimed Carlos Beltran underwent arthroscopic surgery on his right knee Wednesday without the team’s consent.
On the other side Beltran’s agent, Scott Boras, told The Post the Mets were in agreement with the surgery that will keep the center fielder sidelined from baseball activities for at least the first month of the season.
Thus, a disturbing conflict that locks the Mets against arguably their best player and inarguably the most powerful agent in the game waged into a second day.
Neither side was backing down from its account, and if that continues the Mets could make a formal protest, possibly attempting to be reimbursed Beltran’s salary while he is sidelined or maybe even go after the final two years at $37 million left on Beltran’s contract if the switch-hitter does not recover well from this procedure. That would unleash a baseball war that would bring the Commissioner’s Office and Players’ Association fully into a messier dispute.
Already a friend of Beltran described him as angry at the Mets, and Boras’ company issued a statement from Beltran yesterday that said, in part: “Any accusations that I ignored or defied the team’s wishes are simply false.”
Both sides agree Beltran was given permission to see Dr. Richard Steadman in Vail, Colo., for a second opinion and after an exam on Tuesday, Steadman recommended arthroscopic surgery to alleviate pain caused by osteoarthritis. Boras soon after spoke to Jeff Wilpon and general manager Omar Minaya, and from there the stories diverge quite a bit.
Boras claims he informed Wilpon and Minaya of the need for surgery and that neither offered any protest on Tuesday. The source familiar with the Mets’ chronology said Wilpon informed Boras that no surgery could be performed before Mets officials spoke with Altchek, in large part because the Mets were squeamish about various time frames given for recovery.
However, Boras told The Post that Altchek gave verbal approval for the surgery to go ahead on Wednesday and promised to pass that along to Mets officials. Also, Boras said that a nurse for Steadman also informed Mets’ head trainer Ray Ramirez of the Wednesday surgery and received workman compensation forms to go ahead with the procedure.
In addition, in his statement, Beltran said he talked to Minaya on Tuesday and “he did not ask me to wait, or to get another doctor’s opinion. He just wished me well. No one from the team raised any issue until Wednesday, after I was already in surgery. I do not know what else I could have done.”
Boras said he left Vail on Tuesday night unaware when the procedure was to take place and the first he heard the Mets did not want to go ahead with the operation was Wednesday morning. Boras said by that time, when he tried to intercede, the surgery was already underway.
“It is unfathomable to me that Dr. Altchek or Ray Ramirez did not report to the Mets on Tuesday that Carlos Beltran was having surgery,” Boras told The Post.
However, the source familiar with the Mets’ feelings said the Basic Agreement states only written consent, not a verbal approval, is acceptable to proceed with surgery. The source said Wilpon, at the owners meetings in Arizona, could not connect with Altchek on Tuesday. On Tuesday night, Minaya was authorized to call Boras and tell him that no surgery could take place until Steadman, Altchek, Boras, Wilpon and Minaya had a conference call to discuss the matter.
The source said Wilpon called Boras at 8 a.m. Mountain time on Wednesday to reiterate this and that Ricco was on the phone, too.
At 10 a.m., Wilpon called again to tell Boras he still had not connected with Altchek.
At 11 a.m., Boras called Wilpon to tell him that he had just learned that Beltran had already undergone the surgery. Boras told The Post he was unaware when the surgery was scheduled. The Mets, of course, are incredulous that Boras would not know the start time was actually 7 a.m.
“We wanted an opportunity to digest the information, the diagnosis, and unfortunately we were never afforded the opportunity,” Ricco said on a conference call.
Both the Commissioner’s Office and Players’ Association have been updated on the situation, though Ricco declined to say if the Mets are considering further action beyond what they have done so far, which is to send a letter to Boras, informing him they believe their rights were violated.
“Where it goes from here, we’re not sure right now,” Ricco said. “We’ll take a wait-and-see approach and see how it proceeds. Right now we are just reserving our rights.”