Tag: Carlos Beltran

Carlos Beltran Begins Final Season with Mets

Carlos Beltran

Image by tedkerwin via Flickr

In Port St. Lucie today, Carlos Beltran is scheduled to make his spring training debut against the Red Sox as a designated hitter. His achy knee still isn’t well enough to play the field more than a year removed from surgery that the Mets didn’t authorize. Today begins the seventh and final season of Beltran’s run with the Mets that has gone from disappointing to exhilarating and back to disappointing again. Most seven year contracts will have their up’s and down’s but this one has been a wild ride. The final season of that long-term contract begins with serious question marks about how effective Beltran can be, especially in the field. Beltran already deferred to Angel Pagan in center field, moving to right field. The last time he played a game in right was in 2000 with the Royals.

I haven’t talked to any Mets fan that makes an argument that Beltran will, or should, be back with the team next season. Frankly, I don’t think he’ll be with the Mets for the entire 2011 season despite his full no-trade clause. The Mets financial situation combined with Beltran’s $18.5 million salary and dim prospects for a playoff berth should lead the new “All-Star” front office to do everything they can to trade Beltran during the season. Probably sooner than later.

Year Age Tm G PA AB R H 2B 3B HR RBI SB CS BB SO BA OBP SLG OPS
2005 28 NYM 151 650 582 83 155 34 2 16 78 17 6 56 96 .266 .330 .414 .744
2006 29 NYM 140 617 510 127 140 38 1 41 116 18 3 95 99 .275 .388 .594 .982
2007 30 NYM 144 636 554 93 153 33 3 33 112 23 2 69 111 .276 .353 .525 .878
2008 31 NYM 161 706 606 116 172 40 5 27 112 25 3 92 96 .284 .376 .500 .876
2009 32 NYM 81 357 308 50 100 22 1 10 48 11 1 47 43 .325 .415 .500 .915
2010 33 NYM 64 255 220 21 56 11 3 7 27 3 1 30 39 .255 .341 .427 .768
NYM (6 yrs) 741 3221 2780 490 776 178 15 134 493 97 16 389 484 .279 .366 .499 .864
Provided by Baseball-Reference.com: View Original Table
Generated 3/6/2011.

A reasonable expectation in 2011 is for Beltran to play as well as possible for a 34 year-old outfielder rehabbing a major knee surgery. Unfortunately for Beltran, this happens to be a contract year. Don’t feel sorry for him though, he’s made about $116 million in his career to this point. So I think he’s pretty well set financially. MLB Trade Rumors posted a good piece this week about this being a make or break year for him. And it is.

If you look at Beltran’s career as a whole, he’ll have spent his prime years with the Mets. He spent seven years with the Royals and he’ll spend six and a half or seven with the Mets. The bulk of the statistics he’s accumulated during his career came with the Mets. Beyond the Box Score did a good comparison of how he compares to some of the top center fielders in history. If he continues to play fairly well until age 40, he should be on target statistically for enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame. He would likely go in as a Met. That would be ironic for a player that had a hard time adjusting to New York by underperforming in 2005, offered to take less money to play for the Yankees, and is best known for the 2006 NLCS watching strike three from Adam Wainwright. That’s the paradox of Beltran’s Mets career.

Mets’ Carlos Beltran Moves to Right Field

NEW YORK - SEPTEMBER 28: Carlos Beltran #15 ce...
Image by Getty Images via @daylife

Carlos Beltran told manager Terry Collins today that he would accept a move to right field so that Angel Pagan can take over center. Beltran is still slightly hobbled by the knee surgery he had just over a year ago. Although he played center field in the second half of last season, he really couldn’t move very well and was playing more on reputation than skill.

At first blush it seems like an altruistic move by Beltran. He puts the team first and moves out of the way for the young buck, Pagan. Apparently, Carlos Delgado and Scott Boras helped him come to this conclusion. You know if Boras is involved that there’s more to it than putting the team first.

I have to think that there’s a strategy here. Beltran said that he thinks he can still play center and if he had more time that he’d be able to get in shape to play a solid center field. Since this is a contract year for Beltran, I believe that this is a strategic move to maximize Beltran’s value for another contract.

Check out the video below to hear Beltran talking about the adjustments he’ll need to make switching from center to right field.

http://espn.go.com/videohub/player/embed.swf

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Video: Mets Spring Training, K-Rod, Beltran, Castillo

Lastings Milledge steals second base and the b...
Image via Wikipedia

Kerel Cooper of On The Black and I got together for another weekly video to talk about the state of the Mets as the team begins their first full squad workouts. The hot topics of the week are Luis Castillo reporting on time but not early, Carlos Beltran in center field, and K-Rod showing up and apologizing again for assaulting someone at Citi Field last year.

The good news is that we don’t have to talk about the Bernie Madoff lawsuit this week!

http://blip.tv/play/guougqXYHwI%2Em4v

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Five Mets That Need To Have A Big 2011

José Reyes
Image via Wikipedia

Many would call this a transition year for the Mets.  The Phillies are clearly ahead of the pack in the National League East, and the Metropolitans will have their work cut out for them if they hope to make a run at the Wild Card.

But as the Giants proved last season, some big years from some key players can launch a team to the promised land.

I’ve compiled a list of the five Mets that the team needs to have a big season from if they have any hopes of playing serious September/October baseball.

1. Jose Reyes-

We all need a big season from the franchise shortstop.  The fans need it, the team itself needs it, and most importantly, Jose needs a big season for himself.  When Reyes is healthy, there’s no arguing that he is one of the most tantalizing players in baseball.  But in 2011, Reyes needs to prove that his body is not already starting to break down at the age of 27.  Realistically, this could be the last season that Jose Reyes is a Met.  He’s a free agent after the season, and if he has a big year he will undoubtedly be targeted by several teams who could use an upgrade at shortstop.  If the Mets don’t plan on resigning him, you could see him used as trade bait in late July if the Mets aren’t in contention. Continue reading “Five Mets That Need To Have A Big 2011”

Mets Plan for 2011–Fan Reactions

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 29: Sandy Alderson answers...

Image by Getty Images via @daylife

I’ve been surprised to hear how many fans are very dissatisfied with the Mets this offseason. The Mets brought in Sandy Alderson, J.P. Ricciardi, Paul DePodesta to run the front office and develop a plan. But not much has happened since then while other teams are spending on big names like Jayson Werth, Cliff Lee, and Carl Crawford. That’s led to a lot of dissension among fans that I’ve talked to and heard from on Facebook and Twitter.

My take has been that the Mets knew for at least three years that this day would come. This is a day in which several long-term, big money contracts are coming due at the same time. Typically, that’s the making of an ugly situation which is exactly what’s happening to the Mets for next season. The confluence of the final season of contracts for Carlos Beltran, Oliver Perez, Luis Castillo, and K-Rod is the making of a difficult season. There just isn’t the financial flexibility or players with value to be able to do anything with. We’re going to have to ride out 2011 and just hope for the best. By “best”, I mean another .500 season and maybe dump some salary in July for prospects with potential.

Continue reading “Mets Plan for 2011–Fan Reactions”

Mets have Bigger Problems than Cliff Lee

May 28, 2010- Milwaukee, WI. Miller Park..New York Mets starting pitcher Johan Santana pitched for 8 scoreless inning giving up 3 hits and striking out 5 Brewers batters..Milwaukee Brewers won over the New York Mets 2-0, taking the first game of the 3 game series against the Mets...Mike McGinnis / CSM.

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets front office has their work cut out for them. With the announcement of the Phillies signing of Cliff Lee, Mets fans everywhere cringed at the possibility of another World Series Championship to a division rival. Now the best team in the division just got a whole lot better. The Phillies will start the year with a rotation of Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee, Roy Oswalt, and Cole Hamels. This is the best rotation in MLB right now.

This is painful for Mets fans. The front office has simply conceded that this year and maybe next, will be a wash. They are wasting the prime of David Wright, Jose Reyes, and Johan Santana. They are also wasting the end of the career of Jason Bay. They are tricking themselves into believing that Daniel Murphy will be a good fielder and that they will be able to spend money in the next two years for free agents.

With the Mets on the decline, I really hope that someone is taking a close look at their financial future. They have money tied up in players next year for over $120 million dollars. In 2012, they already have over $60 million dollars allocated to players but this does not include the impending signings of Ike Davis, Angel Pagan, R.A. Dicky, Jose Reyes, Mike Pelfrey, Jon Niese, Bobby Parnell, or Josh Thole. While I do not think they will sign all of those players in 2012, the signings of even half of those players might push the 2012 dollars over $100 million and it still would not include any big free agent signings. Continue reading “Mets have Bigger Problems than Cliff Lee”

Mets 2011 Hot Stove – Trade Bait

New York Mets shortstop Jose Reyes (L) and center fielder Angel Pagan celebrate their 4-0 win over the New York Yankees in their MLB inter-league baseball game at Yankee Stadium in New York, June 18, 2010. REUTERS/Ray Stubblebine (UNITED STATES - Tags: SPORT BASEBALL IMAGES OF THE DAY)

http://view.picapp.com//JavaScripts/OTIjs.jsThe Mets are strapped with a high payroll and a lot of baggage. Sandy Alderson feels the proper course is to wait out certain expiring contracts. Therefore, the Mets will look to get creative this hot stove. This will require signing some lower priced free agents to be brought in to compete to win jobs. It will take low risk-high reward players possibly coming off down or injured seasons. It may take a trade or two to import some exciting new talent and shake things up. Here is what you can expect to hear from analysts during the upcoming hot stove.

Possible Trade Bait:

Jose Reyes SS

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The catalyst for almost half a decade has been a popular topic of trade conversation. Reyes is coming off a few injury plagued down seasons, and could become a free agent after the 2011 season. It will take a boatload for a team to convince Sandy to deal the explosive shortstop. Shortstops who hit and field as well as Jose make him a commodity. When he is healthy he can spark an offense and infuriate pitchers. Continue reading “Mets 2011 Hot Stove – Trade Bait”