Reyes 'blindsided' by Mets' statement on thyroid

9:27 AM, March 10, 2010 ι By MIKE PUMA

KISSIMMEE, Fla. -- The Mets are sticking to their original statement on the condition of Jose Reyes' thyroid.

"He has elevated thyroid levels and we are waiting for test results," Omar Minaya said today before the Mets faced the Braves in an exhibition game.

Minaya's pronouncement came after Reyes told ESPNDeportes last night that nothing is wrong with his thyroid.

Reached by phone today, Reyes' agent, Peter Greenberg, said both the player and team are on the same page.

"It's just a matter of semantics," Greenberg said. "We are saying the same thing."

In other words, Reyes has elevated thyroid levels, but there is no cause for alarm at this point.

Greenberg said Reyes was "blindsided" by the statement released by the Mets last night. The team failed to communicate to Reyes' camp that an update on the shortstop's medical condition would be issued.

Reyes then spoke to ESPNDeportes, unaware of the statement the Mets had released.

"They sent out that press release that made it look worse than it was," Greenberg said. "Jose was a little upset."

Minaya said the Mets are awaiting test results to determine a possible course of treatment. Those results aren't expected until tomorrow.

"I had a conversation with our doctors and with [Reyes'] representative and we are all in agreement there are elevated thyroid levels," Minaya said.

The GM would not speculate on when Reyes will be cleared for baseball activities. Greenberg said Reyes is "champing at the bit" to get on the field.

Minaya's pronouncement came after Reyes told ESPNDeportes last night that nothing is wrong with his thyroid.

"The specialists who took care of me in New York have told me that I'm fine and that there's nothing wrong with my thyroid," Reyes said last night, according to the report.

“The test [taken to follow one conducted during his physical] showed that I'm fine. We just have to wait for the results of the additional test. The [doctors] found inflammation in my throat and no medicine to treat the thyroid or any other condition has been prescribed."

Minaya said the Mets are awaiting test results to determine a possible course of treatment. Those results aren't expected until tomorrow.

"I had a conversation with our doctors and with [Reyes'] representative and we are all in agreement there are elevated thyroid levels," Minaya said.

The GM would not speculate when Reyes will be cleared for baseball activities.

Reyes has not made his Grapefruit League debut this spring. Last week, he received blood testing as part of a physical and was cleared to resume baseball activities, but on Friday team physicians requested he return to New York because of concerns about his thyroid levels.

This offseason, the Mets and Carlos Beltran disagreed on the course of action for his injured knee, with Beltran having surgery that the team may not have agreed to.

That followed a season in which some diagnoses and return times for injured players turned out to be inaccurate or too optimistic.