After a steady diet of Mike and the Mad Dog this week, I’ve heard a plethora of Mets fans calling in saying how much they need Carlos Beltran and what an impact he will have on them next season. There’s no doubt about it, Beltran would improve the lowly Mets outfield. Then again, Mookie Wilson would probably be an upgrade over what the Metropolitans had last year.Of course the Mets could use Beltran and if they are willing to overpay for him, which is most likely the case at an asking price of around $120 million, they need to bring in other help as well. And the Mets will overpay for him, especially after they let Vlad Guerrero slip away last offseason because of a back injury that proved to have no effect on his stats. Yes, hindsight is 20/20, but at the deal that Vlad would have taken to play for New York’s second team, they are still kicking themselves for not pulling the trigger.
If the Amazin’s, a nickname which makes no sense since the “amazin'” Mets were the 1969 team, add Carlos Beltran to a roster that features newly acquired Pedro Martinez, potential star David Wright, and offensive star but defensive flop Mike Piazza, they will be in better shape than last season. They need much more help though.
The talk out of the New York papers, which are about as reliable as the National Enquirer when it comes to sports rumors, have the Mets signing Beltran and Carlos Delgado and somehow pulling off a trade for Sammy Sosa. If they could do all of that, then of course their team would be “amazing” but it won’t happen. Shea Stadium is not a hitters park and sluggers don’t want to play there. It’s almost not even a stadium, regarded by most as one of the worst ballparks in baseball.
Since balls don’t fly out of Shea, it’s a perfect stadium for a good pitching staff, something the Mets don’t have. They lost Al Leiter, which isn’t devastating by any means, and have a rotation that other than Pedro is nothing to write home about. Tom Glavine had yet another mediocre season in 2004. Steve Trachsel was worse and the two key midseason acquisitions, Kris Benson and Victor Zambrano, were nothing impressive. Sure they’ll get better, and hopefully so for Mets fans as Zambrano gave out more free passes than a movie theater.
They didn’t do anything to help the bullpen either, with their one offseason trade sending Mike Stanton, arguably one of their best relievers, to the Yankees for Felix Heredia. The same Heredia that the Yankees were dying to get rid of and had almost pulled the trigger on a deal sending him to the Saltillo Saraperos of the Mexican League in exchange for a sack of guava beans and a loaf of bread. Think I’m exagerating? In 2004, Felix walked 20 in 38.2 innings of work with a 6.28 ERA, with several of those walks coming in big situations at the end of games. Let’s not forget about the batter he hit that led to a Mets victory over the Yankees in 2004 Interleague Play. Ouch.
If the Mets do get Beltran, let’s not start the talk of it being because of Omar Minaya. What has he done as a GM to make anyone believe that people are dying to come and play for him? The reason the Mets got Martinez had nothing to do with Minaya. The Mets gave him $13 million more over the length of the deal than the Red Sox had offered. It wouldn’t have mattered who the GM was, Pedro had 13 million more reasons to come to New York. And if Beltran winds up in Queens, it won’t be because of Omar, it will be because of the Benjamins.