Carlos Beltran
Last year during the Matt Harvey drama over his agent’s push for the Mets to adhere to the supposed agreed upon innings limits, Harvey was put in a tough spot, and he didn’t handle it well. He certainly wasn’t helped by his Captain, David Wright. Wright responded to the drama publicly snubbing Harvey.
Harvey made a massive and inexcusable mistake by missing the last practice before the beginning of the NLDS. Wright responded to the situation by saying he was only concerned with the Mets who were at practice.
During Spring Training, when Harvey was going through some serious medical issues. The end result was Harvey was alright, and he was the subject to unnecessary ridicule. Harvey responded with a media boycott. In response to the situation, Wright cracked jokes with the media about the boycott.
Harvey just had another misstep with the media and his teammates. After another bad start, Harvey bolted leaving his teammates to face to media. It’s one thing to boycott the media after unnecessary and unfair coverage. It’s a whole other thing to not to speak to the media leaving your teammates to answer for your problems. Kevin Plawecki was left to answer the same questions he’s been answering after every Harvey start he’s caught. Unfortunately, Plawecki was seemingly the only guy left to answer questions about Harvey’s start.
Wright has now spoken up about Harvey’s most recent behavior. As he told Mike Puma of the New York Post, “A lot of us don’t agree with what he did, but we all take this game personally, and when we don’t play at the level we’re accustomed to, sometimes we make decisions we regret.”
Wright noted Harvey wasn’t accountable saying, “All of us like coming in here and talking when we have a good games, and a few of us, myself included, enjoy coming in here and talking when we don’t play well. Accountability is big and I think [Harvey] just had a bit of a lapse in judgment.”
Wright further elaborated on these comments by saying, “Him, the stature he’s built, the last thing you want . . . you want to be known as an accountable player. You want to be a stand-up guy, and this is a little blip on the radar screen. Hopefully, we all learn from it and don’t make the same mistake again.”
Wright’s comments are understandable. It’s apparent Harvey’s teammates were irked by his actions. He broke a code, and he put his teammates in a very difficult spot. There’s no excusing what Harvey did. With that said, Wright broke the code as well. He went public with his criticism of a teammate. Yes, his comments were relatively mild. However, he did call Harvey out in the media instead of keeping it in the clubhouse. Perhaps, it was because Harvey wasn’t in the clubhouse.
Through the past year, Harvey has seemed like he’s been a difficult teammate. That must be really frustrating for an old school player like Wright. It must be doubly frustrating for a player like Wright who was showed how to comport himself as a professional on and off the field by great teammates and people like Cliff Floyd and Carlos Beltran. It’s no wonder Wright has allowed this frustrations with Harvey to come out in the media.
It’s reminiscent of how cold Derek Jeter acted towards Alex Rodriguez. Jeter never came to A-Rod’s aide the way he did other teammates. The classic example given was how Jeter implored Yankee fans to stop booing Jason Giambi, but he wouldn’t extend the same courtesy to A-Rod. When it came to A-Rod, he suggested that even he, Derek Jeter, couldn’t control the fans reaction. Jeter had a chance to make things easier for A-Rod publicly like he once did with Giambi. For reasons we are all still not fully aware, Jeter chose to leave A-Rod out to dry.
It’s how Wright has been with Harvey over the past year. Wright hasn’t been as public with criticism of his other teammates. Perhaps it’s because the other Mets players don’t create the same attention Harvey does. Perhaps it’s because the other Mets players do not act the way Harvey does on and off the field. Whatever the case, Wright has been harder on Harvey than anyone else (with the possible exception of Jenrry Mejia). Whatever the case may be Wright has reacted towards Harvey the way Jeter reacted towards A-Rod.
It’s pretty ironic. Harvey grew up wanting to be Jeter. Instead he’s A-Rod, and he’s receiving the Jeter treatment.
Since Mike Piazza left the Mets in free agency, no Met had worn 31. The number was taken out of circulation until he made the Hall of Fame. Once that happened, the Mets announced his #31 was going to be retired this summer. The Mets were following their long unwritten policy of only retiring the numbers of Mets Hall of Famers.
It makes you question why the Mets have continuously issued Carlos Beltran‘s number 15 since he was traded away from the Mets.
They reissued the number to Val Pascucci the same year Beltran was traded away. The number was then worn the following year by Fred Lewis. Travis d’Arnaud tried it out for the following two years before switching to the number seven. At that point, former bench coach, Bob Geren wore 15 for the 2015 season. Now, Matt Reynolds has become the latest Met to wear Beltran’s number.
Make no mistake. It is Beltran’s number.
With Beltran hitting his 400th homerun this year, he had further cemented his Hall of Fame case. He’s only the fourth switch hitter with 400 homeruns. He’s only one of three players with 500 doubles, 400 homeruns, and 300 stolen bases. He’s been a true five tool player that has the WAR, WAR7, and JAWS score to deserve induction. All of this is before taking into account his postseason heroics. Make no mistake, he is a Hall of Famer.
For his part, Beltran has said he could see himself going into the Hall of Fame as a Met.
However, at this point, it doesn’t seem the Mets are interested in encouraging Beltran to enter the Hall of Fame as a Met. They say it loud and clear every time they reissue his number to other players. It was clear going into this year that Beltran was going to be a Hall of Famer. The number was vacated with Bob Geren’s departure. The Mets should’ve set the number aside until that day the Mets retired his number.
They’re not. Instead, the Mets are going to let their differences and acrimony get in the way of honoring a great Met.
Beltran gave his all with the Mets. He was the best baseball player on the planet in 2006 leading the team to the NLCS. He’s in the Top Six in WAR as a Met (seven spots ahead of Piazza). He’s in the Top Ten in runs (eighth), doubles (seventh), homeruns (sixth), RBI (sixth), OBP (sixth), and SLG (fifth). He made six All Star teams and won three Gold Gloves. He hit the final Mets homerun in Shea Stadium.
Beltran was a great Met. He will be a Hall of Famer. He should be in the Hall of Fame as a Met, and his number 15 should forever be on the LF wall. It’s why his number shouldn’t have been issued to Matt Reynolds.
Six years ago to the day, I woke up with a bundle of nerves. The Mets were under .500, and they were sending Jon Niese to the mound against the Braves. Niese has never instilled any Mets fan with confidence.
Initially, I had high hopes for this team. After 2009, they were more comfortable in Citi Field and knew how to play there. Jose Reyes and David Wright were in their prime. Carlos Beltran had a full offseason to rest up, get healthy, and return to his dominant form. I thought Ike Davis would get a call-up and be a legitimate middle of the order power threat. I thought Jason Bay would succeed with the Mets after playing so well for the Red Sox. The team had an ace in Johan Santana and an emerging pitcher in Mike Pelfrey. K-Rod was the closer, and promising young rookie Jenrry Mejia was going to be his set-up man. There was a lot to like.
Those feelings of optimism faded away early in the season. They lost seven of their first 10 games. Jerry Manuel was the manager, and he was managing like it. The team was barely able to score runs against the Cardinals’ position players in a 20 inning game. The Mets were under .500. Worse yet, they had to face Larry Jones – err, Chipper – and the Braves. The Mets countered with the enigmatic Niese against a player and team that killed the Mets. It’s enough to make any Mets’ fans stomach turn.
By the way, it was also my wedding day.
Yes, my wedding day. That one I knew I got right. I was marrying the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met (still is), and she had no clue she was way too good for me (still is). Honestly, I was not nervous at all about marrying her. I was only nervous about the logistics of the day. I was nervous about missing the Mets game. Priorities.
I made sure I was ready well in advance so I could watch the game from first pitch. I caught the first couple of innings at home before getting in the limousine and heading to the Church. As we got to the Church, it was still 0-0. Now, as a superstitious sort, I knew I couldn’t hang around in the limo listening to the game because I couldn’t risk seeing my then fiancée in her dress before she entered the Church. Accordingly, I tipped the driver a couple of bucks to funnel me score updates until the game was over.
Last thing I knew as a single man, the Mets were losing 1-0 to the Braves. Sounds about right. After seeing my wife head up the aisle, I forgot all about the Mets. I was excited to marry the best person I’ve ever known.
Once the mass was over, we had the proceeding line. All my wife could do was laugh when the limo driver came over to give me the score. The Mets won 3-1. She knew what she was getting into marrying me. I put the Mets out of mind, did our wedding photos, and then had the greatest wedding reception ever.
By the way, my wife nixed the idea of having Mr. Met serve as the maitre d’. It wasn’t my idea (although I fully supported it). Some of the ushers started a collection, but it quickly died down when my wife caught wind of it. Speaking of the ushers, I did win the pool because I didn’t cry during the mass. First round of drinks in Hawaii were on them.
After my wife and I got married, the Mets went on a winning streak and took over first place. I had no idea because I was on my honeymoon (although we did fly Jet Blue so I could watch the Mets and Braves play the Sunday Night Game).
During my honeymoon, I paid no attention to the Mets. Spending time with her then (as it is now) will always be more important. I just enjoyed each and every moment of being married to my beautiful wife. I still do. Marrying my wife was the best decision I ever made.
Happy Anniversary honey.
The season has gotten off to a rocky start and increasingly, it is becoming apparent that there are two types of Mets fans – Optimistic and Pessimistic. Here’s the breakdown:
Optimistic: the Mets won in 1969 and 1986. They win in years which have a 6 in them. It’s 2016!
Pessimistic: Tell that to the 1962 – 1968 Mets and the 1976 Mets. Also, someone probably should’ve told that to Carlos Beltran when he didn’t swing the bat.
Optimistic: The ’86 Mets began the year 2-3, and they lost two games to the Phillies.
Pessimistic: The 1992 Mets were also a high profile team people thought were World Series contenders that opened the year 2-3. By the way, the 1986 Phillies were a decent team. The 2016 Phillies are horrendous.
Optimistic: Yoenis Cespedes seemed to get off the snide. He went 2-4 with a homerun and two RBI.
Pessimistic: He’s still batting only .200, and did you see him drop that ball in Kansas City?
Optimistic: The Mets have the best ERA in baseball.
Pessimistic: Matt Harvey has been terrible. It’s only a matter of time before we discover Jacob deGrom needs surgery or he will be out half the year. By the way, the Mets have the best ERA, faced an awful Phillies team, and they’re still under .500.
Optimistic: The bullpen has been off to a terrific start.
Pessimistic: You must’ve missed yesterday’s game when Addison Reed melted down like it was Game 5 of the World Series.
Optimistic: David Wright has looked good to start the year.
Pessimistic: His throws have been terrible, and he’s already had to miss a game.
Optimistic: Neil Walker and Asdrubal Cabrera have looked great up the middle.
Pessimistic: Anything would’ve been an upgrade. By the way, they’re not hitting, and it hasn’t translated to wins. Speaking of wins, the Nationals are 3-1. Coincidentally, they have Daniel Murphy, the guy who carried the Mets in the postseason, is a National. He’s hitting .462/.611/.923.
Optimistic: This team is built to win the World Series, and I’m going to enjoy every single part of the ride.
Pessimistic: I don’t know what team you’re watching.
It is surreal to think it was only 12 years ago that David Wright was walking into Mike Piazza‘s clubhouse. Now, with Piazza being retired, it’s now Piazza’s turn to walk into Wright’s clubhouse:
For the Twitter folks: David Wright welcomes Mike Piazza to #Mets camp on Sunday morning: pic.twitter.com/Yq9k7jLkxz
— Adam Rubin (@AdamRubinMedia) February 28, 2016
Back then, everyone on the team knew how good Wright was going to be. They saw him as their best chance of ever winning a World Series. They all took him under their wing.
Piazza mentored Wright how to handle New York and how he should listen to his body. In he following Spring Training, Carlos Beltran took Wright with him for extra workouts to show him the type of off-the-field work is needed to succeed in the major leagues. Cliff Floyd took him under his wing. Not only did he have Wright carry his luggage, he also showed him how to be a big leaguer.
It’s now Wright’s turn to return the favor. Seeing the Noah Syndergaard lunch incident last Spring, he appears ready, willing, and able. Now, it worked with Syndergaard because he was a player that wanted to get better.
There are still plenty of young Mets players who could learn a lot from Wright. Each of these players should be glued to Wright’s hip learning as much as they possibly can from him. Like Piazza, Beltran, and Floyd, Wright can teach these players how to handle New York, how to listen to your body, how to prepare for a season, and how to be a big leaguer. The one player who j think can most benefit right now from Wright’s wisdom is Michael Conforto.
Conforto is in the same spot Wright once was. He’s on a team with great players. Success in the majors seemingly came easy to him in his first half season. If the Mets do anything going forward, it’s going to be his bat that’s going to be a big part of it. He’s also still young with a lot to learn.
Like David Wright all those years ago, we all see greatness in Michael Conforto. Wright should be helping Conforto prepare himself not just for this season, but for his entire career. Helping Conforto could be the key to Wright getting that elusive World Series ring. Listening to Wright could be the key to Conforto having a long and successful Mets career. They need each other.
Who knows? Maybe 12 years from now, we will get to see Conforto welcoming a retired Wright into his clubhouse.
With Carlos Beltran giving his opinion on Terry Collins decision to send Matt Harvey back out for the ninth inning, I began to think of the different ways the Mets won or lost postseason series. Can you name the players involved in the last play in each of the Mets postseason series? Good luck!
For one reason or another, Travis d’Arnaud switched uniform numbers with bench coach Bob Geren heading into the 2015 season. Now that Bob Geren has left the Mets for the Dodgers, the Mets should not give out the number 15 again.
It’s what the Mets have traditionally done with numbers they have anticipated they will retire. After Tom Seaver was traded to the Reds, no other Met would wear the number 41. After Mike Piazza left the Mets as a free agent, the Mets never re-issued 31. These were two future Hall of Famers that were expected to enter the Hall of Fame as a Met. These are the only players to have their numbers retired by the team. With them, the Mets have created the standard that they will retire the numbers of players that have entered the Hall of Fame as a Met.
With Carlos Beltran announcing he may retire after this year, the Mets should give him similar treatment.
Beltran is coming to the end of a terrific career, one that is certainly worthy of the Hall of Fame. Right now, it appears it’ll be up to Beltran as to whether he enters the Hall as a Met, Royal, or a blank cap. For what it’s worth, Beltran has said that if he receives the honor, it’s possible he could enter the Hall of Fame as a Met. If so, the Mets should effectively retire the number now instead of handing it out to the Fred Lewises and Val Pascuccis of the world. Looking at the Mets current roster, the number hasn’t been assigned. The players without designated numbers aren’t players of Beltran’s caliber.
d’Arnaud should be the last Met to ever wear the number 15. Hopefully, one day the Mets can retire the number 15. Even better, it would be great to retire number 7 for d’Arnaud.
According to WAR, Carlos Beltran is the sixth best Met of all-time. He’s higher ranked than recent Hall of Fame inductee Mike Piazza. He’s a future Hall of Famer. The end of his Mets tenure was the beginning of Terry Collins tenure. When Beltran speaks, he deserves your full attention.
With that said, a person should always pick their spots when to interject an opinion. In his interview with George A. King, III, Beltran offered his opinions on Terry Collins sending Matt Harvey out for the ninth in Game 5 of the World Series. Collins’ decision ranks right up there with Grady Little leaving Pedro Martinez in during Game 7 of the 2003 ALCS. It’ll be talked about for generations. Everyone will have a perspective. For what it’s worth, here was Beltran’s take on Collins sending Harvey back out there:
He was looking down and I felt that he wanted to take Harvey out. But at the same time, Harvey was pitching such a good game and Harvey wanted that moment. He went with what Harvey showed him and not what he was thinking. That’s an experience for him. Later on [taking Harvey out] will happen. He will say,’My friend, I will give you a kiss of I have to, but I have to get my closer.’ It was a bad decision to leave him in, but in his heart I felt that he wanted to make a different move.
It’s a fine and reasonable take, but man, I really don’t want to hear Beltran talking about decision that lead to the end of playoff series. Much like the end of the 2015 World Series, his strikeout at the end of the 2006 NLCS will forever haunt Mets fans. For his part, Beltran said he couldn’t do anything with the pitch. To be fair, it was filthy:
However, with that said, he didn’t try to foul it off. He didn’t try to make a fielder make a play. There would be no little groundball up the first baseline. No, Beltran was beat, and he didn’t go down swinging. This doesn’t change the fact that he was a great Met. It doesn’t mean he shouldn’t be a Hall of Famer. It doesn’t even mean his opinion on Collins sending Harvey back out there was wrong.
No, it just means that when it comes to series altering decisions, Beltran’s opinion is the last one I want to hear.
Editor’s Note: this was first published on metsmerized.com
There was a long 23 year wait between the induction of Tom Seaver and the induction of Mike Piazza to the Hall of Fame. While I’m still overjoyed at Piazza entering the Hall of Fame as a Met, I’m curious if the Mets will have to wait another 23 years for another one of their players to go in as a Met.
Looking over the future years’ ballots, there are some former Met players like Jason Isringhausen eligible. However, it’s not likely any of them will be elected. Furthermore, if they are elected, they will most likely not be inducted as a Met. Therefore, if we don’t want to wait another 23 years, we’re going to have to look at current players; preferably those towards the end of their careers. As it so happens, it has been rumored Carlos Beltran may retire at the end of the year. That would mean he could be inducted anywhere between 2022 – 2032. That would mean the next possible Mets Hall of Famer would be within the next six to 16 years.
However, I’m getting ahead of myself here. The first question is whether or not Beltran is a Hall of Famer. I’d argue he is.
For his career, Beltran has hit .280/.355/.490 with 392 homers while playing the majority of his career at a premium defensive position. In an average season, he hits 28 homers and 101 RBI. He’s part of the 300/300 club. He’s won the Rookie of the Year, been an eight time All Star, and won three Gold Gloves and two Silver Sluggers. All of this is indicative of a Hall of Fame career.
The advanced stats also suggest he has a good case. On average, a Hall of Field centerfielder has a 70.4 WAR, 44.0 WAR7 (best seven seasons WAR combined), and a 57.2 JAWS score. Beltran right now is at 68.4/44.3/56.4. Essentially, his peak years were Hall of Fame worthy, and he’s right on the cusp of playing his entire career at a Hall of Fame level.
Even if he falls short in a few areas, he’s bound to get credit for being an incredible postseason player. He has hit .332/.441/.674 in the postseason. Strikeout or not, he’s amongst the greatest postseason performers in major league history. If he retires without playing a game this season, he’s a Hall of Famer.
The next question is what hat will he wear. That’s not as clear cut. Essentially, Beltran will have three options: (1) Royals; (2) Mets; or (3) no affiliation. It’s a tough decision. He played eight years each for the Royals and Mets, playing only 44 games more with the Mets. Overall, he was a better player with the Mets.
He hit .280/.369/.500 with 149 homers as a Met as opposed to .287/.352/.483 with 123 homers as a Royal. He won all of his Gold Gloves as a Met, and he appeared in five of his eight All Star Games as a Met. He accumulated 31.3 WAR with the Mets and 24.7 WAR with the Royals. However, you can’t discount the potential emotional tug he may feel towards the team that drafted him. A place he won his Rookie of the Year Award.
It all got me thinking. Piazza chose the Mets, in part, due to his relationship with the fans. Like Piazza, Beltran initially had a rocky relationship with Mets fans getting booed in 2005. However, even with the strikeout, I believe things got better. He received cheers and standing ovations in his last home game as a Met. He noticed them too. He Was cheered loudly at the 2013 All Star Game during introductions, and that was while wearing a Cardinals uniform. Lastly, but more importantly, Beltran said he could see himself entering the Hall of Fame as a Met.
Like Piazza, Beltran was a great Met. Like Piazza, Beltran deserves induction into the Hall of Fame. When that day comes, I hope Beltran is like Piazza, and he enters the Hall of Fame as a Met.
Editor’s Note: this article first appeared on metsmerizedonline.com
Supposedly, this documentary was directed at Mets fans. As such, I really wanted to like it. With that said, wow that completely missed the mark.
Yes, completely. I know it’s an hour show. However, it missed so many HUGE storylines. First, there was no real mention of Matt Harvey. Seriously? He was coming back from Tommy John surgery. It was the reason for the flip-flopping on the six man rotation all season. There was the Yankee game. There was the innings limit drama. There was the whole keeping him in too long in Game 5. Harvey was a huge, important, and at times, divisive figure. He barely received a blurb.
Speaking of pitching. This could’ve been the year Jacob deGrom became the staff ace. He was utterly dominant in the first half. He was the story of the All Star Game. He opened the postseason with a 13 strikeout performance. He somehow gutted out Game 5 of the NLDS, which is known as The Murphy Game.
Both pitchers got less coverage than Steven Matz‘s debut and his grandfather. It was a big moment in the season, but also lost there was the Mets mismanaging his injury in a season of the Mets mismanaging injuries. Heck, Matz got more coverage than any pitcher. That includes Noah Syndergaard, who was probably standing 60′ 6′ away. It also includes Jeurys Familia, who got thrust into the closer’s role due to two Jenrry Mejia PED suspensions. Familia was arguably the team MVP, but you wouldn’t know if from any of this.
Speaking of MVPs, if he wasn’t interviewed, I wouldn’t have known Curtis Granderson was even on the team. Granderson may have been the sole professional bat on an injury ridden deplorable offense. We heard about David Wright‘s back, but we didn’t hear about any of the other injuries (even in passing) that led to John Mayberry, Jr. and Eric Campbell hitting in the middle of the lineup. How do you miss this? Ask any Mets fan, and they will tell you that was a seminal moment in the season.
It was part of the whole Mets mockery of the fans with Panic City. It lead to an important Mike Vaccaro column about the Mets malpractice. This column really touched upon what it meant to be a Mets fan since the Madoff scandal. We were angry. Very angry. There was a campaign to buy a billboard did the Wilpons to sell the team. That side of the story wasn’t voiced, not even with Joe & Evan.
Instead, we got The 7 Line Army story. I mean no disrespect to Darren Meenan and what he’s created, but why was The 7 Lime Army featured more than anything else? The 7 Line Army got more coverage than Yoenis Cespedes being the hottest hitter anyone has ever seen. Seriously, when Cespedes hit the NLDS homer, we saw The 7 Line Army celebrating instead of an epic bat flip. Interview Darren Meenan? Absolutely. He’s a fan, and he’s made a successful business out of his fandom. However, I’m sorry. The 7 Line Army was not the defining story of the 2015 season. Yet, it got a lot of coverage. Maybe the most coverage.
With that, a lot was missed. Think about it. There were many key games this past season. If you take longer than a nanosecond to pinpoint the Padres game as the nadir, you’re a casual fan. If you don’t know the game to which I’m referring, you’re not a Mets fan. That game set the stage for the exhilaration fans felt after the Cespedes’ trade. No matter your feelings about the trade, you were excited to se degree that the Mets were remade and going for it.
That trade flipped the script on the season for the fans . . . perhaps for the team as well. The Mets went from an under-.500 team falling apart at the seams to real contenders. They went from a laughingstock with the Carlos Gomez trade debacle to a force to be reckoned. The documentary took the incredible, real-life drama that unfolded and omitted it. You could do a mini-series on July 30th and July 31st. Instead, we get a snarky Tom Verducci comment about Mets fans not being happy. I would say the quote was taken out of context, but really, how could it be? Until that trade, the Mets had cheap owners and an under-.500 ball club. Any fan had a right to be angry.
That’s the thing overall. You simply cannot discuss the fans without capturing their anger. It’s an example of how passionate Mets fans are. We’re not the hapless bunch we were presented as to the world. We are fans that have lived through nightmares. There was the worst team ever assembled. The Midnight Massacre. There were the misses in the 80’s. The Worst Team Money Can Buy. Kenny Rogers walked in the series winning run. Mike Piazza‘s ball died on the warning track. Carlos Beltran struck out looking followed by two collapses. All hope was then seemingly lost with the Madoff scandal.
However, Mets fans have seen enough magic to believe in anything. The Miracle Mets. Ya Gotta Believe! A little roller up the first base line. The Grand Slam Single. Overall, Mets fans don’t expect the worst. We’re not Cubs fans or pre-2004 Red Sox fans. No, we believe anything can and will happen. It’s a feeling that was awoken with Harvey’s right arm. It’s a feeling that’s not going away.
So no, Tears of Joy didn’t tell the world about Mets fans. It missed the mark despite excellent work by Anthony DiComo, Jared Diamond, and Jim Breuer.
Also, it didn’t tell me about the team or the season. From my understanding of Tears of Joy, Daniel Murphy had a hot streak before losing the World Series with an error. All 27 homerun Lucas Duda did was make a poor throw home. I could go on and on ad nauseum, but you get it. You watched the season. You know just as well as I do that Tears of Joy didn’t do a good job describing the ups and [mostly] downs of the season.
No, overall it mostly failed to capture the season or the fans. It’s disappointing really, just as the end of the 2015 season was. I guess there it at least hit the right tone.