Former Mets reliever Pedro Beato spent a season and a half (2011-12) in New York before being traded to the Boston Red Sox for Kelly Shoppach back in August of 2012.
While Beato only pitched 71.1 innings for the Mets, he actually played a more important role in franchise history than most will remember. According to Peter Gammons in a report that came out in 2015, general manager Sandy Alderson almost sent a young minor league pitcher by the name of Jacob deGrom– who was recovering from Tommy-John surgery at the time- to the Boston Red Sox in exchange for Shoppach.
Alderson was talking with then-Red Sox general manager Ben Cherington, who asked about deGrom as a potential return. Luckily, Alderson’s scouting department came back and told him to hold on to the young righty. Instead, the Mets sent Beato in a deal to Boston.
Heading into the 2012 season, Beato was rehabbing a shoulder impingement down in Port St. Lucie. At this facility, he was close with Jenrry Mejia, who was rehabbing from Tommy John surgery at the time and always kept the place upbeat and brought energy to an otherwise lowly training room as guys were eager to get back out on the field.
This is where a “young, skinny kid” named Jacob deGrom hung around often as he was also trying to come back from Tommy John surgery. This, of course, was before anyone knew what deGrom would become as he was a converted college shortstop coming off major elbow surgery.
Although he wound up having the best year of his minor league career that season going 9-3 with a 2.51 ERA and 0.997 WHIP, he only had a 7.8 K/9 ratio and was a 24-year-old in Single-A ball because of a significant injury.
“You just never know in baseball. Guys get traded all the time then become stars,” said Beato. “Look at Zack Wheeler (former Met) getting traded for Beltran in my first year with the Mets. Jake Arrieta struggled with the Orioles then got sent to the Cubs and became unhittable.”
“Of course, no one knew deGrom was ever going to become the best pitcher in baseball. I didn’t even know I was traded instead of him until years later, so the original scenario never really sunk in for me after he burst onto the scene,” said Beato.
Denying the original trade proposal from Boston was one of the Mets’ best decisions as it would’ve clearly been soul-crushing to this franchise if he went on to become this dominant ace elsewhere. Luckily, deGrom has since evolved into one of the best pitchers in the league-leading the Mets to the 2015 World Series and winning back-to-back Cy Young awards over the last two seasons.
In a way, this deal also worked out for Beato, who pitched for the Red Sox from 2012-2013 and received a World Series ring with Boston in 2013.
Growing up, Beato was also travel ball teammates with the newest Mets’ star reliever, Dellin Betances, in Brooklyn. According to Beato, Betances was already 6”6 at the age of 15 and throwing around 97 mph.
Beato recalls telling Betances that he would likely have to go to a smaller market to succeed in the bigs after being drafted by the Yankees in 2006. Instead, Betances went on to dominate as a setup man in the Bronx becoming the only reliever in major league history to strike out 100 batters in five straight seasons.
Despite his injury-riddled 2019 campaign, Beato thinks Betances will dominate with the Mets if he stays healthy.
Beato also played with Jeurys Familia in Triple-A and says his stuff was outstanding and really jumped out at you, despite some minor control issues that needed polishing. He believes the young Edwin Diaz will bounce back in 2020 given his electric stuff, as well.
“It’s so hard to pinpoint what’s wrong in the sense of relievers having up-and-down years. Workload has a lot to do with it, but also if they are comfortable in their setting. Guys respond differently to their roles changing, which sometimes can affect them mentally,” said Beato.
“New York is also a very ‘what have you done for me lately,’ kind of place and the pressure that comes with playing here is like none other.”
When Beato first came to the Mets in 2011, so did veteran manager Terry Collins.
“Terry Collins was a fiery guy in a good way. He was always on top of things and got the most out of his players. He knew how to handle veterans, which is why he and Carlos Beltran were so close,” said Beato who played for Collins from 2011-2012.
“Collins and Beltran had the utmost respect for each other. Carlos is a great people person and I’m sure he will be a successful manager especially among the players. He was an amazing teammate and always there for anyone who needed him. He wasn’t the most vocal leader at times, but he led by example and was the clear-cut leader of the clubhouse.”
The 33-year-old Beato spent last season with the Long Island Ducks under manager and former Met Wally Backman. He has not appeared in the majors since 2017 with the Phillies and told me he is leaning towards retirement as he plans on opening his own pitching school down in Florida to coach youth baseball players.
Beato pitched 94 innings in the big leagues from 2011-2017 posting a career record of 4-2 to go along with a -1.0 fWAR, 4.31 ERA, 1.298 WHIP, 4.11 FIP, and 60 strikeouts
