" His departure clock is ticking !"
Okay here we stand pretty much five days to go before the July 31st non-waiver trade line expires, and the only question that is clouding both the Mets and Carlos Beltran’s future is not whether if he will be traded. It is when and where he will be traded to.
I honestly would just wish that the process would speed itself up already because this is quickly starting to become a media circus – and possibly a distraction to the team. I personally never had a vendetta or a grudge against Beltran. I bought his jersey when he first signed with the Mets just before the ’05 season started. I refused to boo the man when his first year with the team was an exercise in mediocrity. I cheered him hard when he had that career year in ’06 – carrying the Mets along with Delgado, Wright and Reyes into the post season. I cringed at that called third strike from Wainwright – but I felt that there were five more seasons for him to help us take home the World Series trophy.
Alas that never happened. Beltran had excellent seasons for us in ’07 and ’08. Unfortunately in ’09 his knees started to breakdown on him – the result of two bone bruises that eventually had to be surgically repaired. He would be out the first half of last season rehabbing these knees, and upon a rushed return his game was full of rust which is some small respects helped the Mets take a nose dive in the standings. He did find his stride in late August/early September, but by that time the Mets were fighting the Nationals for control of the basement.
Carlos has been an enigma been like a firey pheonix rising from the ashes this season. He has been the most consisyent bat ( other than Reyes) in this lineup, and he seems determined to help this team win – as well as to raise his stock for the upcoming offseason where he will be a free agent ( I was born on a Saturday – but not last Saturday !).
I honestly don’t want to see Carlos go – I think there is some unfinished business that needs to be wrapped up, but I do realize this has been a unhappy marriage between him and the Mets over the past 2-3 seasons.
All I know that is I am getting tired of reading the latest trade rumors and listening to radio reports that team A is interested – but won’t part with prospect B. Or hearing fans and sports radio hosts lauding his efforts, when they wanted to send him out on a rail for a package that would have sent us Gary Matthews Jr and a box of used jock straps.
I don’t care if he is traded to the Braves or the Phillies, the Rangers or the Giants – as long as we get top compensation for the man.
It will hurt me to see him go, yes he wasn’t a “homegrown” Met, but neither was Keith or Carter. I know those were different times and the outcome was way different, but I do believe that Beltran is and was the best hitting as well as fielding outfielder that we had had since Lance Johnson.
But alas the handwriting is on the wall and all things must come to an end. So too shall the Beltran era. I just hope whomever Sandy Alderson gets in return does not turn into a AAAA caliber player like Chris Carter.
And with that said…. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
The New York Mets released emergency starter, Brandon Knight on July 26, 2009. Knight was your typical emergency starter, somewhat impressive in his first start, shaky in his second, and god awful in the two relief appearances that he made in ’08. He found more success playing for the ’09 Team U.S.A baseball team in the Beijing Olympics. He wound up winning a bronze medal if my fading memory serves me right.
Mo Vaughn had 10 bowls of the famous Cincinnati Chili yesterday. Needless to say the hotel that he stayed at was deemed a hazmat biological warfare zone afterwards !
33 comments
Anonymous
7/26/2011-11:28am at 11:28 am (UTC -4)
I agree 110%. Tired of hearing about it, fully well expect it (and can live with it, big picture wise), so just get it done already so we can move on.
Hopefully this team rallies around being short another guy (like they have done all year), and doesn’t pack it in and feel sorry for themselves (ala the jerry led bunch).
what the hell, to make a run at the WC was going to take a few miracle performances out of unexpected guys, so why not get one more in RF?
Anonymous
7/26/2011-11:58am at 11:58 am (UTC -4)
Gentlemen relax, cool down, take a refreshing shower and let Sandy do his job. Allow him to patiently wait for the best deal he can make.
rustyjr
7/26/2011-12:15pm at 12:15 pm (UTC -4)
I am – I have faith in Sandy – just feel the media is harping on this
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-12:47pm at 12:47 pm (UTC -4)
I’m in agreement here.
Going to miss him when he’s gone too but since it’s inevitable, I have no problem letting this play out as Alderson tries to maximize the return for him.
Well, that and I was in no hurry to see Carlos’ last game in a Met uniform…
SaltyGary
7/26/2011-12:23pm at 12:23 pm (UTC -4)
Who cares about the media. If they didn’t have this to talk about there would be something else. This is exciting and all about growing the team for the long term. I just wish there were more players on the block like Cap and Izzy. Enjoy!
Anonymous
7/26/2011-12:48pm at 12:48 pm (UTC -4)
I agree and yet don’t with the above. I can see keeping Izzy, as Righty RPs are plentiful and he’s the only competent closer this team has (and honestly won’t have too high a return, in my humble opinion). Now, I’ve read in more than one place that the Mets are thinking about extending or re-signing Cap for next year. I wish I could remember where I read that (and no, it wasn’t Olney). If they can lock Cap up, I’m all for that. But if that isn’t in the plans, I agree, ship him off to somewhere.
Now, if the miracle occurs and they get Minor from Hotlanta, then please please please re-sign Cap and (be it now or in the offseason) send Pelf to someplace else.
TRS86
7/26/2011-3:48pm at 3:48 pm (UTC -4)
Pelf I do not think is going anywhere this year. Cap is great insurance. He can come out of the pen and be #6 if Johan, Dickey, Niese, Pelfrey and Gee are the rotation.
Anonymous
7/26/2011-3:55pm at 3:55 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t think he is either, though i wish he would!
TRS86
7/26/2011-4:03pm at 4:03 pm (UTC -4)
I think whipping boy is getting too bad of a rap. He has struggled at times this year for sure but replacing him is not as easy as you think.
Since his first 4 starts Pelfrey has a 3.95 ERA and a very decent WHIP. I know those starts count but he is also still on pace to be right around the 200 innings mark as well.
SaltyGary
7/26/2011-4:55pm at 4:55 pm (UTC -4)
If they don’t trade Cap, they should absolutely resign him. He is healthy and serviceable. I just have prospect greed right now and just want to get that farm system to be considered one of the best in the league.
Anonymous
7/26/2011-12:50pm at 12:50 pm (UTC -4)
Anyone see that MLBTR listed that Nimmo and the Mets are supposedly close to an agreement?
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-2:18pm at 2:18 pm (UTC -4)
Sure did.
How about this latest over on MLBTR:
The Phillies are about $3MM shy of the luxury tax threshold of $178MM, report Matt Gelb and Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Team president David Montgomery is willing to pass that threshold for
the right opportunity, he told the reporters. No National League team
has paid the luxury tax since it came into effect in 2003.
*******************
The Phillies are the Yankees of the NL.
They’d better hope whoever they acquire keeps them over the top for the next few years. If that attendance starts dropping, good luck paying that luxury tax.
TRS86
7/26/2011-3:46pm at 3:46 pm (UTC -4)
See that’s just it, they are trying to be the Yankees for now but they also know that they are not the Yankees. Yanks have an unlimited source of money that they can always increase. The Phillies are a great example of that 3-5 year window team and 3 of those years are already spent.
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-12:51pm at 12:51 pm (UTC -4)
I’ve pretty much read all trade rumors but have avoided most of the fan comment and speculation on this. I imagine no matter what one’s opinion is, it’s been hashed out nine ways from Sunday already. I mean, what is there left to say?
Until it’s a reality, it’s all speculation anyway. Something tells me though as much volume as we’ve had on this leading up to this trade, it’ll be 10 times that once the deal gets done.
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-1:27pm at 1:27 pm (UTC -4)
I managed to get to one game in 2008 at Shea as I – probably along with many others – wanted to be there one last time that season.
It was 26 July against the Cardinals. It was suppose to be Pedro on the mound but as was the case so many times, he was injured and they used Brandon Knight instead. I was disappointed right there, to say the least.
Mets lost in 14 innings which had less to do with Knight and more to do with the battle of the BPs. You would think that with a Delgado, Tatis and Reyes HR we should have won but alas, Heilman gave up a HR to Pujols in the 14th to lose it. As much as he totally frustrated me out of that BP in ’08, hard to really blame him as it was his 3rd inning of work and you just knew sooner or later in that game Pujols was gonna burn us.
Not exactly the ending I wanted to my last memory at Shea
TRS86
7/26/2011-3:52pm at 3:52 pm (UTC -4)
It seems there is a growing underground thought that the Mets could indeed keep Beltran and try to re-sign him at a reasonable rate because of the lack of improvement from the Mets fill ins. Fmart, Duda, Kirk and regression from Pagan and still no substantial improvement from Bay? They could keep him with hopes of retaining him.
Of course the elephant in the room to that is one Boras.
Anonymous
7/26/2011-3:58pm at 3:58 pm (UTC -4)
You know, everyone is bugging out about not being able to offer arbitration on Beltran, but even if you could, would you? I mean, are you going to offer arb to a 20 Million dollar player? I would tend to think not anyway. So whether or not he stays or goes, I don’t see anyone offering arb as it is, so he’s going to be a FA that won’t cost the team draft picks one way or the other.
TRS86
7/26/2011-4:02pm at 4:02 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah, I have been making this point since the beginning everyone talking about how that reduces his value. It’s meaningless.
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-4:07pm at 4:07 pm (UTC -4)
The only way I would think Carlos would take that arbitration offer is, if with his new team he somehow tailed off on his production and/or injuries started derailing his ability to stay on the field.
I would think Beltran’s goal is a multi year contract somewhere.
Anonymous
7/26/2011-4:12pm at 4:12 pm (UTC -4)
2 years at 10 per or 1 year at 20? I can’t see why he wouldn’t take Arb, unless dr. evil, aka Boras has a master plan (which he certainly may!)
TRS86
7/26/2011-4:49pm at 4:49 pm (UTC -4)
Thing is multi-year and single year might produce around the same if arbitration were a factor.
Remember if he was a type A then teams would be hesitant to offer him a multiyear deal for big bucks AND lose a draft pick. So what he could get on the market might be very similar to that 1/20 deal.
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-4:23pm at 4:23 pm (UTC -4)
OT a bit but I’ve got a bad feeling about Pagan and these medical tests.
Here’s hoping if they find anything, it’s nothing serious.
You have to wonder if Beltran (his mentor) leaving and his under production so far this year is starting to prey on his mind. In fact, I wonder if Beltran and the trade talk is starting to get to all of them in that clubhouse.
TRS86
7/26/2011-4:51pm at 4:51 pm (UTC -4)
I don’t think so. I think Pagan is just plain struggling and in a funk. He was expected to continue last year’s results got off to a terrible start trying to be something he was not and then got injured. Seems like now every time he starts to get into a rhythm something else pops up.
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-5:34pm at 5:34 pm (UTC -4)
Over on MLBTR, this is interesting:
The Mets have been turned down on requests for Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, or Arodys Vizcaino of the Braves, Zack Wheeler or Gary Brown of the Giants, and Domonic Brown or Jarred Cosart of the Phillies, reports ESPN’s Jayson Stark.
Stark says the Mets are telling teams the Beltran deal isn’t about
money, and the team that offers the best players will get him.
*******************
You have to wonder if some team isn’t going to finally say ‘uncle’, or if Sandy will indeed settle for something less than the initial asking price.
Mr North Jersey
7/26/2011-6:05pm at 6:05 pm (UTC -4)
This season so far has shown that the Mets have kept a lid on leaks. It will be interesting what is the outcome from the Beltran trade rumors and if in fact any of these rumors are proven to be true by any of the teams involved.
TRS86
7/26/2011-6:34pm at 6:34 pm (UTC -4)
Thing is how would a reporter know who has been offered or who has been declined?
Ceetar
7/26/2011-6:51pm at 6:51 pm (UTC -4)
I’ll enjoy every last minute i get to watch Beltran. no rushing please.
Hey, maybe the Braves get swept and the Mets pick up 2+ games and don’t trade him anyway.
TRS86
7/26/2011-7:00pm at 7:00 pm (UTC -4)
Yeah that would bring them back to what? 6.5 out? LOL.
Ceetar
7/26/2011-7:07pm at 7:07 pm (UTC -4)
7 losses now, so if they gained two that’s 5 with 9 in hand.
TRS86
7/26/2011-7:09pm at 7:09 pm (UTC -4)
Man, you certainly are the optimist aren’t you? LOL.
MetsFan4Decades
7/26/2011-7:24pm at 7:24 pm (UTC -4)
I’d love nothing better but my cynicism is firmly entrenched with this team lately to just about expect the worst.
From 7 1/2 game lead with 17 to play to 3 straight years of injury after injury, it’ll probably take a WS win for me to believe nice things can happen to Met fans too.
Ceetar
7/26/2011-7:29pm at 7:29 pm (UTC -4)
Because the Mets going 3-1 over the next four and the Braves 1-3 is the most outlandish thing in the whole world? They’re 5-6 since the break.
Anonymous
7/26/2011-9:55pm at 9:55 pm (UTC -4)
they are a little offensively challenged. And pitching has a habit sometimes of getting hurt or hitting a wall.
Ya never know!