Now that a trade of Carlos Beltran seems imminent, people are coming out of the woodwork to defend him and his production in his time with the Mets. But where were these people at the beginning of the year? Mets fans pledged their allegiance to Jose Reyes and now it seems likely that the club will try to retain Reyes after his contract is up, due in some part to the support from the faithful.
Reyes is younger, plays a more important position and came up through the farm system – three pretty good reasons for fans to prefer him. But the deafening silence from most of the fan base (we felt differently) in regards to Beltran the first three-plus months of the year was inexcusable. Especially as Beltran was thought to be the most fragile Met at the beginning of the season and has instead turned into the team’s most durable player.
And of course there was the matter of production. While Reyes wowed the fans with all of his multiple-hit games, Beltran was simply leading the team in HR (15), RBIs (61), walks (52) and OPS (.917) while placing second in runs (56).
Also, the Mets missed Beltran more when he was out of the lineup than they did Reyes. While Reyes gets credit for igniting the team, the club is 7-8 when he does not play. Meanwhile the Mets are 1-4 when Beltran is out and is 2-7 in games he does not start. It could be ugly without his bat in the lineup the final two months of the season if Beltran is indeed traded.
ANGEL OF THE EVENING: Angel Pagan gave the Mets the win Wednesday night with a walk-off home run in the 10th inning. So far this year, Pagan has a .750 OPS in night games (213 PA) compared to a .427 OPS in day games (82 PA). Additionally, 17 of his 18 extra-base hits have been under the lights, including all four of his home runs.
Pagan also has a big difference in his results based on where he bats in the order. When he’s in one of the top four spots in the lineup, Pagan has a .144 AVG (16-111) compared to a .289 AVG (46-159) when he bats fifth or lower. Obviously there is a lot of overlap in these two splits, as Pagan batted second in the order early in the season when the club played more day games.
However, when Pagan first returned from the DL, he played 34 games where he mostly batted fifth in the order. He had a .305/.379./.414 slash line in those games. Then he moved to the leadoff spot with Reyes out and in 12 games batting first he managed just a .192/.246/.288 line.
RAH RAH RAH FOR R.A.: Starting pitcher R.A. Dickey did not have his best stuff last night but he battled and gave the Mets a chance to win. Dickey’s record this year is just 4-8 but that’s not really indicative of how well he has pitched, especially here recently. Dickey got a no-decision last night in a game the Mets eventually won. In his last six starts, the Mets are 5-1. However, Dickey has recorded a 1-1 record in that span.
IZZY DURABLE ENOUGH FOR CLOSER?: Wednesday night Jason Isringhausen pitched two innings in the Mets’ extra-inning game and picked up the win. It was the first time all season he went for more than an inning and the first time in more than two years an outing extended into a second frame. He last pitched two innings on 5/27/09. Isringhausen appeared in just four more games after that multi-inning appearance in 2009 before being sidelined with an elbow injury, which kept him out of the majors until he resurfaced with the Mets this season.
DO YOU REMEMBER APRIL 21st?: That was the day the Mets came closest to fielding their expected lineup. The batting order that day was: Reyes, Pagan, Wright, Beltran, Bay, Davis, Turner and Nickeas. Doesn’t that look nice? They won that game, 9-1. Of course, Pagan got hurt in this one and ended up missing more than a month. By the time he came back, both Davis and Wright were sidelined.
Compare that to the lineup the Mets trotted out on July 18th, which was: Pagan, Harris, Murphy, Hairston, Duda, Bay, Thole and Tejada. Not surprisingly, the Mets lost that game, 4-1. Since then the Mets have gotten back Reyes and Beltran and Wright is expected back soon. However, it’s unlikely that Davis will return and Beltran could be traded any day, which means we will never get to see the expected 2011 Mets lineup.
I’M GONNA DJ AT THE END OF THE WORLD: Since being recalled in mid-June, D.J. Carrasco has made 14 appearances and 11 of those were games decided by three or more runs. The last time he was brought into a close game was July 10th, when he came on with the Mets losing 2-0. He promptly gave up two RBI singles to give the Giants a 4-0 lead in a game that ended up being 4-2. Here are the final scores in the games he has pitched since June 24th:
8-1, 14-5, 16-9, 5-2, 5-1, 6-0, 4-2, 7-2 and 8-5. That last game the score was 4-0 when Carrasco came on and he added a run to the deficit. Since the recall, Carrasco has a 4.50 ERA and has 5 BB and 6 Ks in 16 IP. Is there any wonder that Terry Collins has such little faith in him and uses him primarily in low leverage situations?
There is absolutely no talk in bringing back Beltran in 2012. I understand the wait and see approach in April, May and June but come on, the guy is healthy enough to lead all RF in OPS and the league in extra base hits. Yes he is 34 but what is wrong with a two year extension and third year team option at the fair market value (WAR of 3.6 X 4.5 = 16.2 mil for a total of 48.6 M). They are not even asking Beltran what he wants but he has stated he wants to remain in NY. Before I traded him I would see if his demands are too high because the replacement can not be better than him. I also think the Wilpon financial mess is impacting the way this team does business.
I wonder if Pagan actually fits into Alderson style of a player? His career #’s justify him as a 5th or 6th batter (he is above the league average) but playoff contenders don’t have average players in those positions. I would not be surprised to see him go this winter.
Finally, did Izzy increase his trade value with his performances against the Cardinals? Granted if he was traded I’m not sure the bullpen could hold up but if Beltran goes then might as well get a prospect for Izzy if possible. Also if Beltran goes, could the Mets get some quality prospects from St Louis or Detroit for either Capuano, Dickey or Pelfry? (I realize that means given Schwinden a chance but what the heck, we might as well find out about him also).
I agree wholeheartedly on Beltran, Metsense.
Many of you are wrong about Beltran. He is the most ANTI-clutch player I have ever seen. He teases you by playing somewhat good during the season and then flops during the playoffs. He always seems to either strikeout, pop-up, or ground out in big game situations in the 9th or later innings. I think the Mets will be in a lot better situation than most people would believe when Beltran is gone, mainly due to Dave Wright returning, as well as, Davis and Santana. Beltran should have been moved a long time ago. I love how people jump on the Bandwagon when the guy is doing well, but quickly forget time like 2006 watching a strike three call to end a season against a team that they were so much better than. And there has been many times like that since that time. What the Mets need is to get David Wright back into the mental frame of mind he was before the homerun competition about four years ago. The thing ruined Wright for some reason. He use to be an excellent two strike hitter, and since then he tends to strikeout. Someone needs to work with him to get that back. When that happens, Wright will show he is the best player on the team, even better than the inconsistent Reyes. Hopefully, the new coaching staff understands what’s happening with Wright and finds a way to get him back on track. I think this staff is that best thing to happen to the Mets in a long time. The last ten years have been a big mistake by the Wilpons. They finally got something right with this staff.
Hi Justin – thanks for reading and commenting!
We all wish Beltran would have come though in that one at-bat in the 2006 NLCS. However, I hope you take a second to recall that Beltran had a .296/.387/.667 slash line in that series and the Mets would not have advanced as far as they did without his 3 HR and 8 runs scored in the NLCS.
Beltran has been a GREAT postseason player in his career. In 22 games he has a .366/.485/.817 line in the biggest games of his career. I don’t know what more a rational person could expect him to do.
As far as being un-clutch, look up Beltran’s 2004 post-season stats. In fact, that’s alomost the whole reason he’s here in the first place.