It might be easier to list what's right with Orlando Hernandez than to list what's wrong with him. "El Duque" was due to come off the disabled list on Sunday from his bunion discomfort, but rather than just have a flare up of that existing injury, Hernandez has come up with a brand new injury, as a strained tendon in his right foot will put him on the shelf for at least another month.This from the same guy who missed the 2006 playoffs because he hurt his calf while jogging in the outfield, and the same guy who had the following spring training hampered by arthritis in his neck. Add to that the fact that nobody really knows how old he is, it's possible that we may never see Hernandez in a major league uniform again at this rate.
The Mets, who probably took well over a year too long to stop depending on the health of El Duque, are looking at signing Claudio Vargas to help out their rotation. Just six months ago, Hernandez was being counted on to throw in the front end of the Mets rotation, before a previous flare-up with tendinitis started to convince the Mets that Hernandez just isn't very durable anymore ... just really, really old.
