Edwin Diaz Out for the Season After WBC Injury

If you are no fan of the World Baseball Classic, then what happened to Edwin Diaz on Wednesday night in Puerto Rico's 5-2 win over the Dominican Republic would serve as evidence of the tournament's malfeasance.

Upon getting the final out, Diaz celebrated with his Puerto Rican teammates near the pitchers mound, before falling to the ground in a heap. Diaz had to be helped off the field in a wheelchair. His teammates both in shock and tears. It was revealed late Thursday that Diaz had torn the Patellar Tendon in his knee and would be lost for the season.

While many have come out to defend the WBC because of its meaning to the players who play it, and there is no doubting there is a lot of national pride in playing in and having the tournament; the fact that it is played at such an intense level in the month of March when players should be with their Major League team preparing for a season is the further proof that things need to change.

There was always the concern that one day a major injury would happen as a result of the WBC, and now it has.

The Mets season has now been greatly altered because Diaz celebrated with his Puerto Rican teammates as if they had clinched a league championship. And it is only March.

There is a reason why Max Scherzer and Brandon Nimmo decried playing in the tournament when asked by reporters. There is also a reason why Aaron Judge felt the Yankees wouldn't allow him to play in it.

Any injury in this tournament is a catastrophic one.

Baseball's owners need to step in and put a stop to this before someone else gets hurt.

Diaz wasn't the only player injured in this year's WBC. Freedie Freeman of the Los Angeles Dodgers hurt his hamstring while playing for Team Canada, but is expected to be ready for Opening Day.

The risk/reward is too great. Especially when there are players riding multi-million contracts like Diaz is. Teams shouldn't allow their major leaguers to play in this tournament. And baseball should move it to November, or just cancel it altogether.

National pride is great, but at the cost of losing a valuable asset for the season just isn't worth it.

Comments

Jets, Dolphins and Patriots Playoff Breakdown

Here are the formuli that could get the Jets into and out of the playoff party this season: 1) If the Jets win against Seattle and Miami, they win the AFC East based on a better conference record (8-4) than the New England Patriots, even if New England wins out as well. 2) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins win out and finish at 11-5, the Jets would be 10-6, or 9-7, and probably out of the playoffs. Both New England and Miami would make the playoffs, with the Dolphins as a divison winner and the Patriots as a wild card. The Patriots make the postseason if Baltimore loses one of its final two games. 3) If the Patriots win out and the Dolphins and Jets split, then the Patriots win the AFC East. The Jets will have to hope that they beat Miami to win that tie-breaker and, further, hope that they have a better conference record than the Baltimore Ravens in order to clinch the sixth seed. 4) If the Patriots and Ravens win out and the Dolphins and Jets split their final two games, then ...

Is Aaron Glenn in Danger of Getting Fired?

According to Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio there is a "chance" that Jets head coach Aaron Glenn could be fired at seasons end. While Florio doesn't site any sources, the rumor has caught fire the last two days. The question is would it make sense? Let's examine this for a second? Why it Makes Sense: Glenn has not been great in his first year as Head Coach of this team. The talent has taken a major step backwards, granted two of those talented players were traded away in Sauce Gardner to Indianapolis and Quinnen Williams to Dallas. The decision he and GM Darren Mougey made to give Justin Fields a two year deal proved to be a horrible mistake, and Glenn stuck with Fields for far too long before pulling the plug following the Jets loss to the Patriots on a Thursday night in mid November. Glenn gave now former Defensive Coordinator Steve Wilks too much power to run the defense, and the players couldn't stand Wilks. Reports indicated this week af...

Same Ol' Jets! Gang Green Dropped by Ravens

RAVENS 24 - JETS 9 In short the opener to the 2022 season for the New York Jets was a complete and utter disaster. A team that came into the season with the promise of better days ahead, a team that had taken on so many kudos in the off-season for what so many in the media had claimed was an impeccable off-season and draft, came out flat as a pancake when it mattered the most. If this was a debut of what is to come for the Jets in 2022, you better start preparing your 2023 draft boards. Sunday's 24-9 loss wasn't just a defeat at the hands of a better team, it was a total indictment of the Jets current predicament. The Jets offensive line, which has been battered and beaten this summer with the losses of Meckhi Becton and Duane Brown looked like a sieve on Sunday. Joe Flacco, who is not exactly fleet of foot, was under siege all afternoon. The fact he came out of Sunday's game having been sacked only three times was a miracle in itself. George Fa...

COHEN'S CORNER SPORTS

Search This Blog