Carlos Beltran

Ex-Nats Skipper Could Help Mets Get Back On Track

The Washington Nationals fired their manager, Manny Acta, today, opening the door for the NY Mets to bring their former third-base coach back into the fold.

Why would the Mets - who are struggling mightily to stay afloat - want to bring in a manager who had won only 26 games in the first half this season?

There are going to be a lot of Mets fans that are not going to be too happy with me after they finish this article.

In fact, I'd venture to say that there will be a few who will refuse to finish it because they will say I'm not a true fan, I am being too negative, and that I am giving up the remainder of the 2009 season.

All of the above may be so, but since this is definitely an opinion piece, if you don't mind, allow me to fire away.

The New York Mets find themselves in a rather messy predicament at the halfway mark of the 2009 season. As of now, one of baseball’s highest paid teams sits three games below .500 with a 39-42 record which is good for third place in the National League East behind the bargain basement Florida Marlins and the rival Philadelphia Phillies.

In this past month, the New York Mets have turned into the New York Bets; people all around the world are betting on when the next Mets player will find himself with all the others on the bloated DL. Some even go a little bit farther and pick a player. 

Some of the biggest names on the Mets' disabled list are Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, JJ Putz, Oliver Perez, John Maine, and the newest player to join the club, Carlos Beltran. 

With Carlos Beltran headed for an MRI tomorrow and still no sign of Jose Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and Oliver Perez, I think now is an appropriate time to discuss trading for someone who could provide some steady offense, especially if Beltran hits the DL.

The problem for the Mets is they have very few trade chips to work with.

With everything else going on with the Mets and their injuries, one positive is coming as we near the end of this first half.

David Wright leads NL third basemen in votes, and Beltran is ranked high enough in the outfield category to have a good chance at making the team as well. 

Johan Santana and Francisco Rodriguez may be joining Wright and Beltran in St Louis next month.

At this juncture, there are not many of us that would trade places with Mets manager Jerry Manuel.

His team has been decimated by freak injuries and lingering illnesses to the point where they are out of major league-level players. The lineup these days looks like one out of an early March split-squad game.

New York Mets at Washington Nationals; JJ Putz to have surgery

The first time the Mets played the Nationals, it was late April and the Mets were on a four game losing streak, coming home after getting swept in St. Louis. New York won the opener of that series and took two of three from the worst team in baseball.

Just when we thought it couldn’t get any worse on the injury front. It looks like Carlos Beltran will be held out of today’s starting lineup due to a stomach virus that caused him to leave yesterday’s loss to the Marlins. Instead, the Mets will put Angel Pagan in center field, and they will hope for the best.

The Mets have placed both Jose Reyes and Ryan Church on the 15-day disabled list, have activated F Mart from Buffalo, and have purchased a minor league shortstop from the Cleveland Indians.

Carlos Beltran has a bruise in his knee, which will require treatment and will not be available until at least Friday.

Being that it is only May and the Mets are playing the Nationals for two more days, weather permitting that is, they can afford to be short handed for a few games.