MLB Free Agency: What Scouts Are Saying About New York Mets' Carlos Beltran

I saw this today on ESPN.com and just couldn’t help but comment on it: 

"There's nothing the Mets would love more this spring than to have Carlos Beltran play well enough to make himself tradable in July. So scouts are already bearing down on him just in case.

But when we asked one of those scouts if he could see himself recommending that his team trade for Beltran, his answer said it all:

'Noooooo. I'm rooting for him, because I feel bad for him, seeing a guy who was once a great player limping around with a brace on his knee...But would I recommend him? No— because I don't want to get fired.'"

So, these scouts feel bad for the guy because he’s limping around on a brace?

Last I checked, Beltran is brace-free and is hitting .256/.326/.513 with two home runs in this early season.

Now granted, that’s not going to get you any undisputed All-Star votes, but from a guy that we barely saw in 2010, I’ll take that kind of production any day of the week.

Beltran is due $18.5 million in 2011 and despite moving to right field and playing mostly part-time, he’s doing fairly well for "a guy who was once a great player limping around with a brace on his knee."

I’m not going to refute anything a scout says because, well, they’re a scout and they’re paid to make these assumptions. But from a die-hard Mets’ fan point of view, Beltran has reached his expectations and could potentially overachieve them as the season prolongs.

What makes everything even more promising? Beltran finally believes in himself, believes in his knees and believes in his abilities.

Talking about playing in all three games of the Mets vs. Braves series, one of them being a doubleheader, Mets manager Terry Collins told ESPN New York’s Adam Rubin, "I talked to Carlos last night and he told me, 'I want to play all three.'"

Collins also went on to say, "I think there will be a time [when] he’s a seven-day-a-week player."

All pretty promising if you ask me. It all makes it that much easier for Carlos to find a new team after the 2011 season, when his contract is up with the Mets.

While there is still the chance of a midseason trade on the horizon for Beltran and the Mets, it seems too slim of a chance to get your hopes up.

For that, I wish Carlos all the best during his last season with the New York Mets and with his future in the MLB.

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