" He may be gone but he's not forgotten!"
Well there are just 2 days left before 2011 is just a soon to be distant memory. We had our share of good times . And if you are like myself – a Mets fan we had our share of bad times as well.
In light of everything that went wrong with last seasons Mets team lets focus on something positive. I ask you who do you think the M.V.P. of the Mets last season ? Was it Jose Reyes ? Could it be Dillon Gee ? Maybe Sandy Alderson would be your top choice, or maybe even R.A Dickey ?
Well my nomination for the Mets M.V.P this past season is none other than Carlos Beltran. Carlos came into the ’11 season as a big question mark. There were still rumblings that his surgically repaired knees still weren’t fully healed, and he barely played in any games during Spring Training. The first thing that Carlos did was abdicate the center field position to Angel Pagan and settled into the role as the Mets right fielder. Carlos was expected to play 4-5 games a week, but he proved to be healthy enough to play almost everyday.
Carlos was the main power bat in a line-up that was decimated by injury. Both David Wright and Ike Davis were sidelined for huge chunks of the season, and Jason Bay’s bat still proved to be ineffective. So Carlos carried a very heavy weight on his shoulders.
Carlos played in 98 games for the Mets last season. He hit .289 with 15 homers and 66 RBIs before he was traded to the Giants on July 28th. Yes he was the glue that held the team together last season, but the reason why I consider him the M.V.P of the Mets because he played well enough to net the Mets the Giants top pitching prospect, Zack Wheeler.
Let us face the facts here. Yes it is very possible that if neither Beltran or Francisco Rodriguez were traded, the Mets could have finished with a record just north of .500. But anyway you slice it, Beltran was not going to be a Met after the season ended, and the Mets would not receive any free agent compensation for him. Wheeler, the prospect that obtained for him is projected to be a top flight starter, and should anchor a replenished pitching rotation in the near future.
So who do you feel should be the Mets M.V.P from last season ?
And with that said…. HERE COMES THE INFAMY !!!!!
Mets alumni celebrating a birthday today includes:
Reserve outfielder from the ’09 season, Emil Brown is 37 (1974). Brown appeared in just 3 games for the Mets, amassing 1 hit in 5 at bats .
The Texas Rangers signed starting pitcher, Kenny Rogers of the New York Mets as a free agent on December 29, 1999. Rogers was obtained from the Oakland A’s at the trade deadline for reserve outfielder, Terrence Long, and pitching prospect, Leo Vasquez. In his half season with the Mets, Rogers went 5-1 with an E.R.A of 4.03 in 12 starts. But he will always be remembered for walking in the winning run against the Atlanta Braves in game 7 on the ’99 NLCS. Most Mets fans would like to forget this game !
Mo Vaughn plans on dressing up as Baby New Year to ring in the new year on Saturday night ( Oh what a sight that should be) !
23 comments
TRS86
12/29/2011-2:12pm at 2:12 pm (UTC -4)
Nice article but i cant go with someone who played half a season as the MVP. I guess I would have to go with Reyes.
rustyjr
12/29/2011-2:40pm at 2:40 pm (UTC -4)
Actually he begat us Wheeler so he’s my M.V.P lol
Anonymous
12/29/2011-2:54pm at 2:54 pm (UTC -4)
agreed!
SaltyGary
12/29/2011-2:43pm at 2:43 pm (UTC -4)
That’s a tough one. By the end of the season Beltran still led in most of the power categories. Even though Reyes had another shorted season, his Avr, runs and hits are very impressive. I would probably give it to that quitter Reyes.
Anonymous
12/29/2011-2:54pm at 2:54 pm (UTC -4)
They fact Beltran got us Wheeler alone should make him the MVP!
Gus
12/29/2011-3:10pm at 3:10 pm (UTC -4)
There was no real “on field” MVP so why bother broaching the subject?
Anonymous
12/29/2011-4:46pm at 4:46 pm (UTC -4)
Great point!
Rusty, delete this post and all of the comments.
Dirtysanchez
12/29/2011-3:18pm at 3:18 pm (UTC -4)
My mvp would be terry collins…the guy has definitely changed the culture and has gotten the most out of a bunch of mediocre guys.
MetsFan4Decades
12/29/2011-3:20pm at 3:20 pm (UTC -4)
Good choice. No doubt Carlos worked to get back on the field – as much for the team but also to prove his career wasn’t over yet. He knew his time with the Mets was just about over.
Me? I have to go with RA Dickey. He didn’t miss a start. Not with that split fingernail early on. Nor that plantar tear that very clearly showed him pitching with pain and barely able to field his position let alone run when at bat. If I remember correctly, he had some shoulder or arm stiffness/pain too somewhere midway. He not only made every start, he gave those of us still watching some reason to tune in. His post game interviews were almost worth some of those BP meltdowns.
Since the 2012 season is shaping up to be possibly worse than ’11, RA at least gives us something to look forward to every 5th day – at least for this Met fan.
rustyjr
12/29/2011-3:23pm at 3:23 pm (UTC -4)
Great choice
Anonymous
12/29/2011-4:46pm at 4:46 pm (UTC -4)
While TRS has a great point, I have to agree with Rusty, especially when you consider how the team collapsed after trading him.
To me, again considering what happened after they left, the 1-2-3 MVPs were Beltran, Reyes, and KRod.
Look at the offense and pen without those guys.
Which is why I am even more pessimistic about 2012—none of these three has been remotely close to being replaced.
Dirtysanchez
12/29/2011-5:31pm at 5:31 pm (UTC -4)
You dont think a healthy year from ike can replace beltrans production? Or a bounce back season from Jason Bay?
Reyes will be difficult for any team to replace but as far as the bat, we can compensate…the speed we wont though…no way
Krod…eh…i can do without the heart stopping 9th inning tight rope dances lol. Frank and Rouch should do the job imo
Darknova306
12/29/2011-7:36pm at 7:36 pm (UTC -4)
Bay bouncing back enough to even come close to replacing Beltran isn’t remotely close to realistic. And who knows what to expect from Ike… He could pick up where he left off and keep crushing the ball like he was the first part of 2011, or he could find some struggles while the league adjusts to him. Who knows, but it seems a bit premature to plug him in as a lock to replace Beltran.
And as much as I loathe that K-rod idiot, and despite the heart attack-inducing 9th innings, Frankie was performing at a high level for this team. Definitely better than what I expect from Frank and Rouch.
Anonymous
12/29/2011-8:29pm at 8:29 pm (UTC -4)
Well, we all are entitled to our opinions, but comparing Francisco/Rauch to KRod is just not a real world exercise. Frank’s 32 and has 49 career saves. Rauch is a very inconsistent journeyman. Do you recall what the pen did when KRod was traded and everyone else moved up a notch?
Who is going to replace Reyes’ doubles, triples, and runs? No one.
Bay? He’s done.
Dirtysanchez
12/29/2011-9:27pm at 9:27 pm (UTC -4)
Im willing to give bay this year before sticking a fork in him..if he is still horrible with the walls in a little bit than yea…he’s done
Ike was on pace for something like 25+ hr’s and 90+ rbi’s…i think that is what beltran would have put up at this point in his career anyway. If ike is 100%, i think he can get back there
yea…nobody is going to have reyes’ stats but i think they can compensate for that if players play to their potential and stay healthy…a productive wright,duda,ike and bay can make up for the loss at the top of the lineup
are you comparing what we had in the bullpen(not ready parnell, 100 yr old izzy, and a bunch of regular guys with 0 closing experience) to two guys who have closing experience and have done the job before. Not to mention they are moving to the NL which should help them a little bit.
Anonymous
12/29/2011-10:10pm at 10:10 pm (UTC -4)
Well, these are just our opinions, equally valid of course, but I find it very, very much a stretch to think much of Rauch at all, and to think that Francisco is even remotely close to being at the level of KRod. Just like what happened when KRod left last year, these guys are going to be asked to do a little more than they are really meant to do—Frank is probably a fine 8th inning guy and Rauch a fine 7th inning guy, but are they your setup man and closer? I just don’t think so.
People keep mentioning the fences with Bay, but he did better at home than on the road both of the last two years, pretty much across the board. Also, he was, again across the board, worse all around at the plate in 2011 than in 2010. Also, it is not like he was constantly flying out to the warning track–he was striking out and grounding out. And as I have said, Bay had four very good years, that’s it. 2005-6 and 2008-9. We are not talking about a guy who was great for a decade and had an off year. He had four very good years, the last one now three years ago, in Fenway.
And I like Ike too, but he played 36 games last year, and was good, not nearly great, in 2010. Beltran and Reyes were stars for years.
I hope all of this pans out too, but even if we get 2-3 all star years from Wright/Bay/Ike/Duda, it still might not replace everything Beltran and Reyes did at the plate–and on the bases and in the field. Not to mention that SS and C and probably CF are going to produce well below league average offensively.
Sorry Dirty–my optimism bubble broke in August 2010 and has yet to recover.
I see last place and maybe 70 wins in 2012. If what you suggest happens, maybe we push for .500.
But if Ike and Duda are so-so and Wright and Bay are the 2011 Wright and Bay, this could be a team which could push for 100 losses.
Darknova306
12/30/2011-12:35am at 12:35 am (UTC -4)
Don’t worry, Kingman, everything will be fixed by moving the fences in! High strikeout and groundball rates from Wright are obviously because the park is too big. After three years of not adjusting at all to his home park, Wright is a lock to be a superstar with the smaller dimensions!! Yeah! That’s the ticket!
Bay is done and it’s becoming a trend that Wright isn’t as good as people expect. Unless they move to a little league field, these trends will most likely continue.
Anonymous
12/30/2011-2:30am at 2:30 am (UTC -4)
I will see you and raise you!
I think moving in the fences will be a potential disaster—you have a team that scored a lot of runs with zero power–and lost Beltran–and whose strength was getting on base and hitting singles and doubles. I.e., a team which offensively benefited from Citi.
And you have a rotten and largely unchanged starting rotation with huge home/road splits.
And you have an organization traditionally pitching rich, whose top minor league prospects are almost all pitchers.
So, you move in the fences?!?!
CRAZY!
A weak and inane attempt to appeal to fans as with a very cheap and shortsighted solution.
Anonymous
12/30/2011-4:09am at 4:09 am (UTC -4)
I honestly don’t think this had anything to do with bay, Wright, or wheeler/harvey/familia. And it wasn’t some kind of shell game. I think it was as reported, a reflection that the park was playing too big, and they felt that it was “getting into the hitters heads” to a degree. So, they made adjustments to make it play like shea (relatively neutral, leaning toward a pitchers park.)
And Citi will be the way they are making it mostly likely for 40 years or more, so long after Duda has retired and been inducted into the HOF.
Anonymous
12/30/2011-10:07pm at 10:07 pm (UTC -4)
Who’s been watching the float o’ optimism? My guess would be it is up on blocks in someone’s backyard. Maybe Jeffy sold the tires for toll money?
MetsFan4Decades
12/29/2011-6:35pm at 6:35 pm (UTC -4)
Going by stats alone to determine MVP, these 3 would clearly by 1-2-3.
I went with RA mainly for those ‘intangibles’ in what was a miserable season.
Anonymous
12/30/2011-2:46am at 2:46 am (UTC -4)
well, the real answer is Duda.
Anonymous
12/30/2011-10:02pm at 10:02 pm (UTC -4)
Do you allow anyone else into the fan club or is it more like an owner/operator type setup?