Super-agent Scott Boras isn’t taking any chances with the right arm of Mets pitcher Matt Harvey.
Boras reportedly secured an insurance policy that will protect Harvey in the event he suffers an injury that hurts the value of his next contract or even ends his career, CBS Sports reported.
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Harvey’s inning count was a major topic in New York as the Mets neared the postseason. Boras urged the team to shut down Harvey, much like the Nationals did with another Boras client, Stephen Strasburg, in 2012.
After Tommy John Surgery last year, Harvey said he thought he would be limited to 180 innings in 2015.
Harvey ended up throwing 189 1/3 innings in the regular season and trotted him out for two starts in the playoffs — both wins — for 202 total innings.
According to ESPN.com, Harvey’s insurance policy has no exclusions, meaning he’s covered if he re-injures his right elbow and gets a lower offer or can't pitch again. Harvey is making $614,125 this season and is eligible for arbitration in the offseason. He isn’t available for free agency until 2018.
The value of Harvey’s insurance policy is unknown, but the policy Max Scherzer, another Boras client, secured in 2014 cost him $750,000. Scherzer eventually signed a deal with the Nationals worth $210 million.
If Harvey continues to pitch the way he did in a Game 1 NLCS win over the Cubs when he gave up just two runs on four hits in 7 2/3 innings with nine strikeouts, he could be in for a similar deal that makes a $750,000 insurance policy seem like peanuts.