Beltran told ESPN New York, “In order for me to play center field, I need more time. I want to be on the same page with everyone here. I want Terry to have his time and to come to the ballpark ready to play the lineup without thinking where he is going to play Pagan, where he’s going to play me. At the same time I’m thinking about Pagan coming to the ballpark and preparing himself and focused to play baseball. I don’t want to create any distractions here. Like I said, I want to play right. I think it’s best for the team. I think it’s going to be best for me also, best for my knee. It’s going to be less active than playing center field.”

Beltran left his ego at the door and is being a team-player. He could have stayed in center field, but he knows he can extend his career by moving to right field.

Well, it’s expiring. 2011 will be the final year of the deal and the 33-year old may not finish the contract as a Met.

Via ESPN New York:

“I know that I have the no-trade clause, but if the team is searching or looking to trade a guy, I have to listen,” Beltran said. “I want to be a Met. I want to finish my career with the Mets. Right now, my mentality is just to come back next year 100 percent to help this team win a championship. But, at the same time, if the organization is looking at different options, I have to be aware. I’m a professional. I know the organization, they’re professionals. So if the situation comes between them and us, we’re going to handle it in a very professional way.”

If the Mets are well behind in the standings in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline, they could find suitors for Beltran who are in contention. If Beltran is playing well at that time, that’s a plus for the Mets because they could get some good minor leaguers in return for Beltran and re-stock their farm system. I could see the Mets avidly shopping Beltran to contending teams around the deadline and succeeding in making a good trade for the future of the team.

Matthews signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the Angels in 2006. A year later the Angels signed outfielder Torii Hunter to a five-year deal and Matthews’ productivity went down. He was part of the Mets organization in 2002.

Matthews has $23.5 million left on his contract and Heyman says Angels will pick up about $21.5 million of it.

Reliever Brian Stokes will go to the Angels in the deal.

If the Mets make an outfield signing it means:
A. They don’t trust Angel Pagan
and/or
B. They don’t feel as though Beltran will recover well and they see the injury as lingering throughout the rest of the season

If the Mets stay put and don’t make a signing it means:
A. They have faith Angel Pagan can do the job 
and/or
B. They expect Beltran to recover well and get back to old form

People on twitter are pretty split on this. Some people believe Pagan can get the job done while Beltran recovers/rehabs and others feel they must make a signing because the Mets tried to make do in 2009 when they had injuries and it didn’t work out. 

The list of current free agent outfielders includes Rick Ankiel, Johnny Damon, Xavier Nady, Reed Johnson, Rocco Baldelli, Jonny Gomes, Jermaine Dye, and Marcus Thames among others. Citi Field has a lot of area to cover in centerfield so obviously some of the names aforementioned may not be a good choice defensively for the Mets. A lot of people are circling Ankiel’s name on that list. 

What do you think the Mets will do? Will they dip into the free agent pool or will they stay put and try to stay afloat while waiting for Beltran’s return?

News has also come out that Beltran had the surgery without the Mets permission. 

The following is an official statement from the Mets PR department:

“Carlos Beltran had worsening of osteoarthritis of the right knee during the offseason. He had not been experiencing pain following the conclusion of the season and into his early offseason conditioning. The symptoms returned to the point where pre-spring training conditioning became too painful. Beltran elected to undergo arthroscopic clean out of the arthritic area of his knee by his personal physician Dr. Richard Steadman today in Colorado. He is anticipated to return to baseball activities in 12 weeks.”

Bay’s four-year $66 million contract doesn’t allow the Mets to address other glaring needs through free agency, but the signing will provide the Mets with a much needed power bat in the middle of their lineup. Bay, David Wright, and Carlos Beltran will bat third, fourth and fifth in some order. 

The signing of Bay is meaningful for the fact that the Mets may not have a power hitting first basemen. Whether their first basemen be the young Daniel Murphy or an older Carlos Delgado, it doesn’t seem as though they’ll receive much power from that position. Citi Field is a big ballpark and the Mets need someone who can drive the ball to the deep parts of the field.

While the Mets were in pursuit of Bay, it was said that Bay did not want to join the Mets. Bay denied those allegations at the press conference.

“I wouldn’t have signed the contract if I didn’t want to be here or I wasn’t happy. This is one of the biggest days of my life,” Bay told the media. 

Bay has hit over 30 home runs and 100 RBIs in four of the last five years. Last season, with the Red Sox, he hit .267 with 36 home runs and 119 RBIs. Bay was one of the top three free agents on the market.