I hope everyone didn’t forget where they placed their pitchforks, I’m back after a one week vacation.
I know there are lot of fans who love Carlos Beltran and for some reason consider him the best player on the team. Now I’ll agree his numbers are good and yes for those who favor statistics he is a very good player. In my opinion statistics alone do not make you one of the best players on a team.
After Beltran’s big playoff series in his walk year Beltran guaranteed himself a big payday. Beltran and his agent Scott Boras knew that after that series he had against the Cardinals, teams would have to overpay to sign him. It’s been well documented that Beltran’s first choice was to sign with the Yankees, not the Mets. The Yankees didn’t offer him enough money so he went to the Mets and Omar Minaya who of course opened the Wilpons check book and signed him to a contract that Beltran has not lived up to.
Beltran had a horrible year in 2005. If he wasn’t injured he completely underperformed. Beltran didn’t run out pop-ups nor did he do much at the plate that season when he was healthy. The Mets expected Beltran to be a leader but he ran away from that responsibility, being happy just to collect a paycheck and under-perform.
In 2006 he had a good regular season and some good moments in the post season but when it came down to getting his team to the next level, he just stood there and watched a curve ball go down the plate, ending any chance the Mets had in getting back to the World Series. Afterwards Beltran didn’t care much about his strikeout in post game interviews, he just shrugged it off, said he’ll be back next year.
In 2007 and 2008 he was apart of the collapses. Beltran never stepped up and tried to lead this team. He let a younger David Wright take on that responsibility. He padded his own stats but when the team needed Beltran he of course didn’t come through.
Last year in 2009 he was once again injured. Beltran pretty much bashed his team’s handling of his injury. You didn’t see any of the other players who injuries were mishandled do that. Once again Beltran showed he plays for the name in the back of the jersey not the Mets. I understand he came back when there was no point last year but that was his choice. Beltran should’ve been upfront with the team, telling them that he was still injured.
That brings us to 2010. He decides to have surgery without consulting the team first. He gets upset when the team tells the truth. Beltran had months to get the surgery but decided to wait to as close as Spring Training as possible to get his knee operated on.
Since returning to the team he has done nothing for the Mets. The Mets are just 5-16 since Beltran decided to grace the team with his presence. His .195 average is unacceptable as is his horrible fielding in the outfield. The truth is Beltran is not ready yet. Instead of accepting that and helping the team he continues to hurt them with his presence. It’s a selfish move by a selfish player. Beltran doesn’t care about his numbers this season, next year is his walk year. This season is to show the other 29 teams that his knee can hold up to the grind of playing everyday. Next year he’ll pad his stats to get him that last big contract but it won’t really help the Mets.
Until Beltran is gone this team is just not going to win. It’s no coincidence that since his return was announced this team has played horrible baseball. Any chemistry this team had was gone when he came back. There is more to being a good player than stats but that is something that Beltran will never understand.
