Most people under sell what Carlos Beltran accomplished over his career with the New York Mets. When the reality of the situation is you could actually make a case he is the Mets best position player of All-Time. It may not seem like he earned his enormous 7-year 119 million dollar deal, due to long injury stints and the 2006 Game 6 NLCS ending AB some people put too much weight up. But the in reality he earned almost every cent of his contract by the #’s he put up. And as good as he was on the field, his best value to the Mets ended up being what he fetched in trade.
Enter Starting Pitcher – Zack Wheeler, the Mets #1 prospect.
The Mets haven’t possessed a pitching prospect with as much upside as Wheeler has in over a decade. 10 years ago this season the Mets selected Scott Kazmir with their 1st Overall Pick in the 2002 draft. Time sure flies doesn’t it?
Zack Wheeler has an arsenal that will produce high strike-out number’s (and hopefully low BB #’s) as his control is still a work in progress. Most people don’t expect him to be ready until sometime late during the 2013 season. If it was up to me he would begin the 2012 season in St. Lucie (where he ended the 2011 season with 2.00 ERA in 27 IP) and move to Binghamton halfway through the season if he’s tearing it up in Single-A.
Matt Harvey should be cracking the rotation at some point in 2012, which may put the writing on the wall for a guy like Mike Pelfrey. Pelfrey is very likely to be in another uniform come 2013 or earlier. It’s possible the Mets could end the 2013 season with a rotation that consists of Harvey-Wheeler-Niese-Santana-Gee. This of course depending on everything panning out and everyone staying healthy (Santana). And as Mets fans we all know it’s never that easy. But maybe this time all our pain and suffering will finally pay off…
