Davidoff: Mets have healthier attitude about injury problems

The way Jose Reyes has dealt with this Dr. Anthony Galea matter - he met with FBI agents Thursday without an attorney and willingly answered questions yesterday from reporters - he must have nothing to hide. The Mets shortstop has a very smart agent, Peter Greenberg, who would protect Reyes if he needed protecting.

So let's take a step back and remember how Reyes wound up in Toronto last year, trying Galea's platelet-rich plasma therapy. Because that, rather than the unlikelihood of Reyes encountering legal trouble, should be your primary concern as a Mets fan.

Reyes, who relies so heavily on his speed to be an excellent offensive and defensive player, rested last May 14 with what initially was called soreness in his right calf. Rather than thinking about the big picture and immediately placing him on the disabled list, the Mets served as Reyes' enablers, agreeing with his desire to get back on the field as soon as possible.

After five days of not starting - he pinch hit May 15 - Reyes rejoined the lineup May 19. He left the Mets' May 20 contest at Dodger Stadium in the third inning, and he sat out the final 122 games of the season.

Another team's scout sat in the stands that night, watching Reyes try to play through a bum leg. His thought, which he later shared with me: "How could they let him out there like that?!" We'll never know for certain how much Reyes aggravated his condition by returning so quickly, but it clearly didn't help.

Which brings us back to the present here at Tradition Field, where "Prevention & Recovery" signs, signifying the team's new philosophy on injuries, hover throughout the clubhouse. And where, general manager Omar Minaya indicated, they'll handle situations like this one differently now.

"I think what you want to do is, in situations like that, going forward, you might tell yourself, 'We may be more conservative with how we do things,' " Minaya told Newsday Sunday.

The Mets' doctors have to take some accountability for the fiasco that was 2009. Mistakes surely were made. Yet the Hospital for Special Surgery is no backwoods operation. In addition to the Mets, it serves as the official medical body for the Giants, Nets and Knicks, and those three teams don't have ridiculous injury problems.

No, this has been more of a cultural problem with the Mets than a medical one. It needs to be addressed this year. Even if it costs them a few wins in 2010, they need to get the franchise in better condition for 2011 and beyond.

Just look at Reyes. At J.J. Putz, who revealed recently that the Mets asked him not to speak publicly about his arm discomfort last year. At Carlos Beltran, who grew so tired of the Mets' "Get back on the field!" mentality that he essentially took himself out of the lineup last June and, in January, opted for right knee surgery without following precise team protocol.

The Mets should've looked in the mirror when virtually no one took their side in the Beltran brouhaha during the offseason. And we've been polite enough not to mention Ryan Church's 2008 until now.

And so, where some saw more despair with this weekend's Kelvim Escobar development, I see hope. I see a team that, at least in this instance, realized the goal isn't to have everyone ready by Opening Day. The idea is to optimize your resources.

If letting Escobar come along deliberately means that he'll rejoin the club June 1 but then provide four quality months, that will have been a good investment of $1.25 million.

"Prevention & Recovery" also means less weightlifting and more of an emphasis on flexibility. Undoubtedly, though, the key to a change comes not from the players or the doctors but from ownership and management.