" Trade Bait - or Just what the team needs ?"
Last night Carlos Beltran sent a message to all of his detractors with a absolute bomb which cleared the Shea Bridge . He went 2-4 with a stolen base and three RBIs. For the season Carlos is hitting .286 ( 4 points higher than his career average) with a club leading 10 home runs and 43 runs batted in. Not bad for a player who many had slated to be a part time outfielder.
Carlos has defied everyone’s expectations . He has played in almost every game this season, and it seems like he is getting stronger by the day. Other than Jose Reyes, Beltran has been the most consistent player on this seasons Mets roster.
I feel that it won’t be hard for Sandy Alderson to find a willing trade partner to take Carlos Beltran off his hands. But the question that remains is – Will Sandy trade Beltran before the seasons out -or might he be bold enough to try to wring every last penny out of hBeltran;s contract until it expires after this season.
I know that Beltran cannot be offered arbitration by the Mets when the season is over, which also means the Mets don’t get any draft compensation for him if and when he signs with another team. But it is still unclear when both Ike Davis and David Wright will return this season.
If Beltran is dealt before Wright and Davis returns, it would surely create a void in an already anemic offense. Beltran this season has shattered the impression that he is a “selfish” player. He ceded his spot as the everyday center fielder to Angel Pagan without nary a peep. He has taken the younger players under his wing as the elder statesman of this team – like he did with Wright and Reyes in his first Spring training with the Mets.
Let’s face it Beltran is not a high priced non contributing castoff. He is a important cog to this team at this point in time.
The question remains is if Sandy is looking for wins and respectability for when the season is out which in return gives us the fan something to rally around - or his he hoping for a balanced payroll ledger ?
And with that said…. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Middle reliever from ’65-’66, Larry Miller is 74 (1937) .
Third baseman for the ’71 Mets, Bob Aspromonte is 73 (1938) . He was one of the legendary members of the Brooklyn Dodgers, but he was way past his prime by the time he came to the Mets.
Middle reliever from the ’07 season, Bob Gibson is 54 (1957). He pitched one inning of one game that season and was never heard from again.
First baseman from the ’05 season, Doug Mientkiewicz is 37 (1974) . He will always be better known for refusing to give back the game winning ball from the ’04 World Series ( when he was a Red Sox) than his lone season with the Mets.
Starting pitcher from ’01-’02, Bruce Chen is 34 (1977). Believe it or not this mediocre pitcher is finding sucess ten years later with the Kansas City Royals.
Spot starter/middle reliever from the ’08 season, Claudio Vargas is 33 (1978). He last pitched for the Los Angeles Dodgers in ’09.
The New York Mets released pitcher, Gary Gentry on June 19, 1975. Gentry was the forgotten pitcher in the great Mets rotations form ’69-’72. He along with reliever, Danny Frisella were traded to the Atlanta Braves for second baseman, Felix Millan and pitcher, George Stone. Gentry spent two season with the Braves. He tried making a comeback with the Mets in ’75, but he was past his prime.
The New York Mets traded minor league pitcher, Brian Givens to the Seattle Mariners for back up infielder, Mario Diaz on June 19, 1990.
Mo Vaughn would never be caught dead at a convention of Vegan cross-dressers ( not that there is anything wrong with that …) !
17 comments
stickguy
6/19/2011-10:32am at 10:32 am (UTC -4)
Nice to see Beltran looking strong.
of course, only met fans think it is an event worthy of being classified as a miracle that a player gets hurt, has surgery, rests and rehabs, and comes back to play. Other team fans (like say, the phils with Utley) just think it is normal!
what will they do? Like I said on the question thread, it depends. But, if they don’t get offered someone that projects to be a future part of the team, they may just hang onto him (for the fans, and a few more wins) instead of trading to save a few $$.
going on a nice little win streak and becoming serious WC contenders (or hell, into the lead) would make the decision a lot easier, since staying in that position will likely jump start ticket sales, making them more money ST and LT than what they could possibly save by trading him and fading out of the race.
It is nice this year that the injuries happened early, so they might be in position to get key parts back for the stretch run, as opposed to prior years where they lost them all!
kingman 26
6/19/2011-10:40am at 10:40 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, but Utley didn’t time his surgery in a way that sacrificed an entire season. And Utley hung with the team when hurt and came back EARLIER than expected.
It’s fun to try to bash the Phils and pretend Beltran always put the team first; it also just isn’t true.
And Beltran moved to right because he knows he cannot run well anymore.
At this point I would be happy to see him go if we can get a decent return. He’s part of the Omar era, which is blissfully now receding.
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-11:42am at 11:42 am (UTC -4)
Love ya, Kingman but I will never understand how anyone can classify Beltran as selfish. The Mets, Omar…now they were selfish they way they handled all those injuries. Beltran did what he needed to do to gt back on the field healthy and prolong his career.
Case in point was his decision to move to RF. Many an ego in that position would not have done it.
Oh, and Utley sucks!
kingman 26
6/19/2011-11:56am at 11:56 am (UTC -4)
Well, I have the same thoughts about you, but we don’t really have any idea what happened between Beltran/Boras and all of the various doctors.
I don’t think he is “selfish” per se, I think in all ways he is complex.
He was great for a few years, but I think after 2009 he decided he would do what was best for him and his career, have surgery at a questionable time, and come back full strength for 2011. If 2010 was the last year of his deal would he have done things differently? I think so.
And yes, he dove into Cameron and smashed his face, but also sometimes walks into home to avoid sliding. He VERY rarely does anything when a DP is happening at 2B other than peel off out of the way, and I think that he is often a contradiction.
He’s clearly a good man off the field, he clearly has helped many young players, but still, he wanted to be in Houston or with the Yanks and came here solely for the extra dollars, so there is much fuel on both sides of this debate.
I have never been one to blame him for 2006, I don’t think he is “soft” overall, but I do think that many stars who have Boras for an agent clearly have one thing in mind overall, with ARod being the clearest example of that.
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-12:09pm at 12:09 pm (UTC -4)
I’ll give you complex – that’s probably a much fairer description.
I will always believe the Mets handled most injuries in 2009 and 2010 poorly. As in they were the selfish ones trying to keep injured players off the DL. They sacrificed the long term trying to squeeze out the short term. In just about every case, they failed.
I truly believed if they had DL’d Beltran to start with mid 2009 when that bone bruise first appeared, his decision to have surgery would have come far earlier as he would have known far earlier rest wasn’t cutting it and removing some of the arthritis would give him a better shot to play pain free.
He came back in Sept and played pain free.
He started his off season training in Oct. pain free.
When the pain started again in Dec., I can only image his first thoughts were ‘is this how the rest of my days in a uniform are going to be’? He then got 3 opinions and the one he wanted to go with was the one who offered surgery as a means to try and cut back on some of that pain. The Mets, as usual, didn’t want him to do it. That would mean he would miss opening day and then some 2010.
We’ll probably never know just who missed what on that actual surgery. Was it Boras’ manipulation to get Beltran under the knife telling him the Mets agreed and Beltran knew no different? Was it truly a miscommunication between the Mets doctors and Omar? Beltran talked to Omar just the night before the surgery. How is it that fact might not of come up?
Like I said, we’ll never know.
Either way, Beltran is part of the past and it is time to cut ties. If they don’t do it mid season, we all know he’s gone come season’s end.
kingman 26
6/19/2011-12:19pm at 12:19 pm (UTC -4)
I love your last two sentences! I agree completely!
stickguy
6/19/2011-2:41pm at 2:41 pm (UTC -4)
this again?
Beltran did not “time” anything in order to be selfish, screw the team, or any of that.
he had an injury (same as Utley) where the 1st treatment option is extended rest. He did that, and was able to come back and play at the end of the year, even though he was not fully recovered. And a selfish, me first guy would not have come back at all in 2009.
so, he rested more (team desire too) instead of having a surgery that could have risked the next year. And once he started to ramp up workouts, the pain came back, pushing him into surgery.
Utley? Same path, and he is still playing, hoping it holds together. Really, no difference at all.
and the whole BS of “staying with the team”? Utley was with the team in ST and early, when he was shut down. As soon as he was doing rehab, he left the team. Same as beltran.
I honestly, in this case, can not see how you think there is a difference between these 2?
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-4:06pm at 4:06 pm (UTC -4)
There isn’t.
If Utley had surgery instead of rest, he’d be out right now.
And at some point, Utley will probably have to make that decision or retire earlier than he probably would have.
kingman 26
6/19/2011-4:29pm at 4:29 pm (UTC -4)
I just disagree. And I am sure many, many others do too.
Beltran avoids contact like the plague, and the timing of his surgery will always be questionable to many.
He’s a very good player, whose Met career statistically is the same as this debate—plenty of evidence on both sides and the fair reality is in the middle.
Is he a soft, selfish player? No way.
Is he a balls-to-the-wall, give everything to the team, play when not 100%, always break up the double play with a hard slide guy? No way either.
He’s in the middle between what you guys think and what I think; he’s part of both descriptions.
And again, if his contract ended after 2010–would he still have had the surgery when he did? No way in hell.
stickguy
6/19/2011-4:38pm at 4:38 pm (UTC -4)
well, here you are wrong.
for one thing, he sure as hell played at way less than 100% in 2009 when he came back. any soft, lazy, only looking for his next contract guy would not have come back at all.
and as per team wishes, and using common sense, he tried to avoid a surgery with unknown results. he rested, and had the surgery when he did because it was when the injury flared up and had to be addressed.
if he really was punting 2010, looking forward to 2011, he could have had the surgery any time, and he sure as freaking hell would not have come back last year and played as a shell of his former self.
your assumption is that he did everything to angle for this off season. If that was the case, he would not have come back last july. he would have hung out at home, doing light rehab, and not tried to come back when the team needed him.
I 100% in this case thing you are looking hard to find a piece to the puzzle that just isn’t there.
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-11:39am at 11:39 am (UTC -4)
No sense in me typing a response since your thoughts pretty much mirror mine, Stick.
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-11:46am at 11:46 am (UTC -4)
Just want to add:
R.I.P Clarence Clemons. The music world lost quite a talent yesterday.
I first saw Bruce, the Big Man and the E Street band at the Count Basie theater in Red Bank right before they hit it big. I grew up on their music. Saw them several times in concert after that, back in the day. Was always a big part of the show when the Big Man was introduced. His rendition of the Star Spangled Banner on sax at the opener in FL this year was one of the best I’ve ever heard at any ballgame.
kingman 26
6/19/2011-11:59am at 11:59 am (UTC -4)
Yeah, growing up in NJ in the 1970s Bruce and the E Street guys were a huge part of my life too. Loved them as a kid, and The River is still one of my favorite rock albums; always like that one best, even though really all of his 70s discs are great.
RIP Danny Federici and now RIP Big Man.
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-12:12pm at 12:12 pm (UTC -4)
Love The River as well. One of my all time favorites after that is probably Greetings from Asbury Park. Probably because he debuted his signature ballads and sounds on that one and it was a glimpse of what was to come.
kingman 26
6/19/2011-12:25pm at 12:25 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, the first two albums are so great because they really were largely the raw, early, original Bruce before he became a massive star with Born to Run.
I loved Born to Run too, but I think I just got burnt out from hearing every song on that LP a zillion times as a kid—but still, the beginning harmonica and piano that open that album on Thunder Road still give me chills and make me a kid again. One of the greatest opening tracks on a classic album in rock history.
Doesn’t thinking about the beginning of Thunder Road just make you young again? That’s part of the beauty of having grown up with rock.
I will always be a kid in NJ when I hear that, I will always be partying in college when I hear Pink Floyd and the Dead, and best of all, I will always be in the midst of the Seattle scene in the 90s when I hear Nirvana.
metsfan4decades
6/19/2011-1:20pm at 1:20 pm (UTC -4)
Whenever I hear Thunder Road it immediately brings back so many memories of the gang and I in High school, hanging out, riding down to Wildwood in a couple of cars and all of us playing Bruce on our 8 track players.
hazmet
6/19/2011-9:22pm at 9:22 pm (UTC -4)
Used to be a huge Springsteen fan growing up. Kind of lost interest after Darkness but the River is a solid piece of work as much as Born in the USA is a text book example of popular song smithing imo.
Some of the best stuff from Bruce were Bootleg’s I used to have from before he broke out and right when Born to Run broke. Stuff from My Father’s Place in ’73 and really odd ball songs like Thundercrack and tales he would spin about Ducky Slattery’s Sinclair Gas Station. And at his side the entire time was the big man. He will be missed.