Beltran Talks About Position Change

15 Comments + Add Comment

• IZ February 23, 2011 at 8:47 am

  So how many of the kool aide drinkers will proclaim the change is great line on this post despite more proof that nothing has changed. The players run the roost still and again. Nothing will change until the poison is forced out of the system. The poison wasn’t Omar, the poison wasn’t Manuel (despite his manay failures as a manager) the poison is WILPON. Maybe Alderson knows what to do in this era of GMs barely half his age, but he won’t get to do things his way until there is new ownership. You made a bad move Sandy…Never mind you were the last guy the Wilpons overpaid. Good move. Failure will be blamed on Wilpon and Madoff, not you.
  • Henry Rowengartner February 23, 2011 at 8:52 am

    Kool aide drinkers – wow that’s a term not used too often…….

    Next………….
  • Donal February 23, 2011 at 8:54 am

    I’ll be honest, never a big fan of the KoolAid. CaprisSun was the shizzi. Probably because of the nifty packaging.
  • srt February 23, 2011 at 8:56 am

    LOL, what??

    ‘The poison wasn’t Omar, the poison wasn’t Manuel’……

    Next indeed.
  • Berbalerbs February 23, 2011 at 9:11 am

    Very interesting thoughts on Beltran and Spring Training, there, Iz….
    • IZ February 23, 2011 at 9:20 am

      what’s a matter boys…Can’t defend the lies of this overpaid and out of touch GM and manager???? Collins and alderson lied…You all can only make fun of the term that is perfect for you. OK , you ain’t kool aide drinkers…You are just too naive to believe that all your posts showing your love and affection and devotion for this alderson dude were all for naught. Soon your love will turn to hate and you will repeat all the hate posts you wrote for Omar and Jerry. And you will act like you knew it all along. Just like you all loved Jerry until you all hated him. Sorry they let you down this fast. You should have used more critical thinking vice blind acceptance of the words of a guy who would say anything to stop checking birth records in third world countries, and another guy desperate for one last chance to prove he could be a good manager.
      • Donal February 23, 2011 at 9:21 am

        Cool story, bra
      • Berbalerbs February 23, 2011 at 9:25 am

        I like your other handle better, Harry.
        • Metsie February 23, 2011 at 9:55 am

          United States of Harry…Airs Teusdays at 9PM on Showtime, don’t miss it!
      • Metsie February 23, 2011 at 9:52 am

        So tell us all…How much did Madoff take YOU for?
  • Metsie February 23, 2011 at 10:01 am

    You know I personally don’t really care what happens to the Wilpons, But I find myself rooting for them to win thier case just so I can watch your head explode when find out they don’t have to sell the team!
• Lifelongmetsfan February 23, 2011 at 9:43 am

  Wow. Someone is angry about what I am not sure. I see it this way. Beltran has not changed. He is consistent. Beltran is nothing if not a very bright, career minded, savvy business man. Obviously Beltran is worth more on the open market as a center fielder than a corner outfielder. And to say that he needs a week of “his running program” to determine if he is capable of playing center field is at the very least ingenuous. Beltran is not the type of athlete to sit around all winter doing nothing. Beltran knows now what he is capable of. My guess is Beltran will perform his “running program” under the watchful eye of Met coaches and administrators in lieu of actually playing inngs in center field. You have to hand it to the guy Beltran is smart! Now it could be that Alderson is giving Beltran an out and allowing him to save face by stating himself that he will play right field instead of the postion change being dictated to him. If this is the case, I applaud Alderson but it’s not. It’s not accident that Beltran has his knee surgery last year when he did. Having the surgery when he did allowed him to use 2010 as a rehab year to get ready for his 2011 walk year… Smart.
  Beltran is the best position player that the Mets have ever had in my opinion. I would absolutely love for him to have a great 2011 and finish his time as a Met on a high note. I like the guy what can I say… But make no mistake Beltran plays for Beltran.
  • Metstheory22 February 23, 2011 at 10:38 am

    I agree, as good as Angel Pagan can be, he is no Beltran. Same thing with Reyes. How many Beltrans or Reyes have we had in our organization?
• Cdub February 23, 2011 at 9:48 am

  Angel In center <3
• t agee February 23, 2011 at 11:02 am

  I don’t think the Wilpon has any choice now but to do things with a long term, pragmatic outlook. That approach was attempted once during their ownership and short circuited due to poor attendance in 1997 but still formed the basis for the fun to watch and relatively successful teams of 1999 and 2000.

  What is it that allows you to compete for a solid decade? Say a 10 year period with 2 75 wins seasons, 2 85 win seasons and 6 90+ win seasons?

  Good young talent coming up to the ML’s before their prime. Hunnsiker got Alfonzo, Bobby Jones, Preston Wilson, Izringhausen, Harazin got Ordonez. Long and Payton. Mcillvaine got AJ Burnett and drafted Rowand, Atkins, Guthrie and Dejesus. If we had signed those guys things would have been different. Hunnsiker also drafted Darin Erstadt who had a monster 2000 and had we just signed that one guy back in ’92 it would have made a huge difference in our line up.

  Mcillvaine also got Reed, Wendell, Olerud and many of the parts used to acquire Leiter, Cook, Piazza and Hampton He also had acquired Carl Everitt who was traded at age 26 and then went on to have his best years from 27-32 as most position players do.

  Many times (most times?) it’s the work done over the previous TEN years that most impacts a teams success and this is 100% the case if your looking to compete for a solid decade instead of looking at the roster year by year.

  Hunsiker, Harazin, Mcillvaine and Phillips all had a hand in shaping the last Met team to appear in the World Series. Arguably one more decision made and one decision not made could have made all the difference in the world. We were that close. Signing Darin Erstadt who we drafted in 1992 (13th round- Hunnsiker) and put up a triple slash .355/409/541 (25HR’s) in 2000 and not trading Carl Everitt who put up a triple slash .300/373/587 (34 HR’s) would not only have positively impacted the team in 2000 but would have gone a long way towards avoiding the franchise crippling moves of 2003 as well.

  Compete this year AND for a solid decade.

  I understand that because of off the field issues Everitt may have had to be moved but nontheless he was a guy Mcillvaine identified (probably way back in 1990 when he was scouting the draft) and his age 27-32 years were very good, not that expensive and could have returned a hell of a lot more if he was traded high rather than low AND most importantly would have produced a hell of a lot more than Derrick Bell did in RF before he went down.

  If you don’t take a look at the decisions made that led to the results you experienced you’ll just never get it. Continuity in the front office is important but overall organizational philosophy is by far the biggest reason for a teams continued success year after year. It is Ownership that sets the organizational philosophy and perhaps they have now had it set for them, finally.

  Your plan cannot be “well who are we going to get to play (these 6-8 spots) every year and expect to have any kind of a successful long term run.