Carlos Beltran is entering the coveted walk year of his contract and is at a pivotal point in his career where he has the opportunity to get one more decent contract before he gets put out to pasture. If there was ever a year that Beltran would be motivated, focused and totally in shape, it's next season.
We've even seen flashes of this over the last week or so as Beltran's slowly gotten into the baseball swing of things and is swinging the bat, running and covering ground in the outfield like he used to. Now he will never have the same jump on the ball like he used to wearing that mammoth brace, and I do believe that Angel Pagan should be the starting center fielder, but Beltran can contribute next year.
Plus who do the Mets have to replace him? Do they honestly believe they can upgrade from Beltran via a trade? Fernando Martinez is not exactly knocking our socks off. If Beltran goes you've got a choice between Chris Carter, Nick Evans, Lucas Duda, FMart or trying to trade/sign someone.
The only possible reason I'd trade Beltran is if I knew I was going to lock up Carl Crawford via free agency. However, I think the Mets money would be better spent on starting pitching, namely a #1 starter, than on another outfielder. There are also greater needs at second base or catcher than in center.
If the Mets trade Beltran, I predict he'll hit 29 home runs and drive in just over 100 RBIs for whomever he's traded to. And what will we get in return? Sure it frees up cap space, but you will have a gaping hole in your lineup unless you shell out more money for superior talent.
1 comment:
Nice. Agree that I'd only trade him if I knew that I was upgrading myself substantially at pitcher. Not sure want kind of pitcher we'd get for a wobbly Beltran with only 1 year left on his deal
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