Vladimir Guerrero continues to haunt the Mets.
After failing to snag the star right-fielder, the Mets now face the possibility of the Players Association filing a grievance against them for how they may have handled Guerrero’s medical evaluation.
The issue is whether the Mets reviewed Guerrero’s medical records, which would be a potential violation of the basic collective bargaining agreement.
“At this point, we’ve asked the commissioner’s office to look into the matter for us,” Bob Lenaghan, MLBPA’s assistant general counsel, said. “We’ve made an information request of sorts.”
On a conference call last Saturday to announce that Guerrero had spurned the Mets’ offer, GM Jim Duquette addressed his team’s health concerns regarding Guerrero. Those concerns, Duquette explained, were partly why the Mets offered Guerrero a three-year guaranteed proposal for $30 million with incentives that could have totaled five years and $71 million.
Asked whether the Mets had seen reports from the back specialist (Dr. Barth Green) that Guerrero visited, Duquette replied, “We were able to see that and have discussions with the doctors.”
The Mets were allowed to speak with Green, but the question is whether they viewed any medical records. According to the collective bargaining agreement, unless it is a trade situation (as opposed to free agency), teams are not allowed to share medical records without a player’s consent.
Duquette clarified his published remarks from earlier this week, saying, “The doctors did not review any medical reports. If I said that, I misspoke.”
The Mets declined to comment on the situation yesterday.
If the Players Association believes that Duquette indeed misspoke, then there should be no problem. But if the association believes that the Mets viewed the reports and violated Guerrero’s rights, it could pursue the grievance.
There is no timetable on when the commissioner’s office will determine whether the MLBPA has a legitimate case. Rob Manfred, MLB’s executive vice president of labor relations and human resources, did not return a message seeking comment.
The Players Association also could pursue the grievance regardless of what the commissioner’s office says, although it should be noted that Guerrero doesn’t seem to have suffered much damage here. He passed his physical in Anaheim earlier this week and signed a five-year deal for a guaranteed $70 million.