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June 1, 2005
Quote Of The Day
“Here’s my point: if I wait until I’m 100%, it could be a few weeks.” — Carlos Beltran, after the game. So my question here is, even if it means losing him until after the All-Star break, should the Mets shut him down and let him get back to 100%? On a related topic, OFF’s fantasy jinxes pale in comparison to my fantasy jinxes. 19 Responses to “Quote Of The Day”Leave a ReplyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Minor Talk »» |
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This is a no-brainer. Rest him. Last night, the game chatter accused him of loafing. I don’t see Beltran as a loafer. Perhaps he was injured. Clearly, he’s not at 100 percent. Sit him down as long as it takes. Use the time to see how Diaz does. Get a fully healthy Beltran back when he’s ready - running, stealing bases, and playing top defense.
They pretty much lost out on putting him on the DL when Willie decided to pinch hit him in that Braves game. He should have been DLed orginally and Diaz called up. Valent could still be contributing as a lefty pinch hitter. Now, who would the Mets call up, Ron Calloway? Royce Ring? Regardless, it doesn’t seem to be a 2-week injury anymore, so we should just cut our losses and sit him down for another week, and get one ineffective game and one pinch-hit fly out for his 2 weeks of occupying a roster spot. I thought he was still clearly laboring yesterday. At least he didn’t come up in important spots his first 3 times up, oh wait….
You shut him down until the All-star break and the season may be over by then. I think you play him and closely monitor the situation. Treat him as day-to-day — play Diaz in his place from time to time. BTW, Valent could make no contribution other than as an automatic out. I would prefer to have Beltran at 80% than Valent at 110% — that is a no brainer.
This is a no-brainer. Rest him. Last night, the game chatter accused him of loafing. I don’t see Beltran as a loafer. Perhaps he was injured. Clearly, he’s not at 100 percent. Sit him down as long as it takes. Use the time to see how Diaz does. Get a fully healthy Beltran back when he’s ready - running, stealing bases, and playing top defense.
I’ve gotta agree with this. What if he reaggravates it while playing?
Oh yes the advantage of DL’ing Beltran would have been to save Valent. Please… “Valent could still be contributing as a lefty pinch hitter”…yeah he would have been contributing that hefty .183 average, whoa boy, we would kicked the DBacks ass last nite if only Valent was there. on Beltran, he is not loafing, he’s not 100% and he should be sat. I think the pinch hit was a mistake but Willie was clearly trying to use him in a spot to hit an HR to be the hero. it didnt work, he rolled the dice and came up short. I don’t think thats any reason though now to admit they may have made a mistake and should have sat him all along. suck up the pride and take the hits. We want Carlos at 100% and not potentially out for the year. One factor here though is how close is he to 100%? If he’s 80-90% well then put him in there. If its lower than that, you risk a bigger injury and you aren’t helping the team all that much. It seems he hasn’t had his typical speed all year so I wonder if he has been hurt all year long. Also if he went 3 for 4 tonight with 3 HR’s, you’d all say leave him in there.
Absolutely, without question, shut him down.
For the Mets, this is about beyond 2005. This team wants to set up to contend next year and in years to come and they need Beltran to be 100% over his next 7 years here. Even if it is a momentary loss for this year, it is much more important he be healthy for when this team should be better down the road.
A torn quad will not get better with competitive activity - at best it will linger for a good while longer, at worst it can get split wide open. The risk-reward is clearly skewed to the negative. He didn’t get to a couple of balls that Cameron probably would have last night, and his baserunning attributes will continue to be downgraded. One player does not a team make — we were competitive through midseason last year without a player of his caliber — but playing injured can hurt a team. Ask Billy Buckner. DL him, call up Ring or Daubach, and get the real Beltran back in a few weeks.
actually, tonight should be an interesting litmus test - day after first extended action in a while. If he’s in the lineup and doesn’t look noticeably worse for wear, maybe he can play through it. This isn’t the kind of injury that can linger into next year, but a body compensating for a handicap can create other aches and pulls. Again, not worth it, but all we can do is wait and see.
Let’s assume the Mets and their medical staff are not total and complete maniacs. If Beltran is risking long-term, career altering injury then, of course, shut him down. However, I highly doubt that the Mets are being told by the medical professionals that he is endanger of long term injury in this case. So, assuming the Mets have decided that they do not want to pay for a shell of a player for the next 6 1/2 years and, therefore, are not acting against the advice of the doctors, they should play him subject to being on a short leash. That is, check day to day and, at the first sign of getting worse, shut him down. Generally, I am not a big fan of playing guys hurt — get him healthy and let him do his thing but Beltran was rested for awhile and has obviously improved to a point where they feel he can play. Rest him for the next 2-3 weeks and the season could start to slip away. No point in trying to save up to make everything perfect for that magical day in the future when the Mets might have a chance. Who knows if, or when, that will ever come? Things happen. when you have a chance to win, you try to win. Period. They have a chance now– a couple of games back. If the Mets are in the race as we approach the all-star break, they are perfectly situated to make a move or two and go for it THIS YEAR. Take a slugging first baseman and a pitcher with larger contracts off of someone’s hands and suddenly they may have a chance to make a real run. Does anyone doubt that if the Mets had Delgado now they would REALLY be in it? Well, a Delgado type player might be available at the All Star break if the Mets are still in it. Beltran is a ballplayer not a hummel. If the docs say he can play, I run him out there but keep an eye on it closely.
I think he should be rested until ready. I know I would rather have Cameron in CF over a guy with a bum quad. It makes sense on all ends to let Beltran get 100%. His entire game will be affected and a quad is a muscle that if already aggrivated, just one wrong landing can pull it. The last thing we need is Beltran to be down 6 to 8 weeks. Get him healthy, move Cameron to CF and play Diaz in RF.
Just to defend my Valent point. I was only saying the Valent/Diaz would have been better over the last 2 weeks than 5 terrible at-bats from an unhealthy Beltran. I was not trying to say that Valent is good. Trust me, I am fine with him being gone.
I think that they should shut him down, BUT I doubt Beltran is doing anything he doesnt want to be doing. He will know if something’s up with him and from what I sense from the guy, he wouldn’t do anything to really hurt himself. About the Valent point, yes it is good that he is gone. If Beltran’s hurt enough, I would say let Diaz get playing time. I mean Diaz is the future right fielder. Also if Beltran heads to the DL, or if he should, I say bring Ring back up. No way he’s worse than Aybar.
The bottom line is this: the way he is playing right now, we do not lose anything by shutting him down. Cameron healthy is better in CF than Beltran with a bum leg, and Diaz will not be much of a drop-off from the subpar production that Beltran has been giving us. Shut him down for a month and let him get healthy once and for all.
This is another example of the Mets not taking full advantage of the strengths available to them. Just as they are failing to do so in the rotation, and just as they were failing to do so when they had Heath Bell in the minor leagues, they are failing to do so again by utilizing the phenomenal surplus of high quality CFs they have at their disposal to give Beltran the time he needs to get healthy. I know Beltran wants to play, and avoid the DL, and I respect that. But the team sometimes has to think longer-term than the player’s desire to be out there, and you don’t hurt the team that much in the short term going with Cameron in CF and Diaz in RF. Actually, the sacrifice is more in depth than it is in the line-up. For that short-term price, we avoid the risk of a complete tear that could affect Beltran’s whole season. That’s a price worth paying — for a team that has the assets the Mets have available to meet the short-term need.
Did anyone see during the game, bottom 3rd, Reyes gets the count 3-0. Good work.
Then he takes the next pitch. Good work there too, he has shown that he is having a bit of trouble throwing strikes, make him throw one more, maybe another after that if you really want to test it.
3-1 he attempts a bunt. Understandably for the reason that he is very fast, but still no way Reyes should bunt there. If anything, bunt 3-0 because it is an obvious strike.
I am willing to accept the growing pains, but I’d prefer ones that should be, not easy things like this.
chris from beantown -
I write this after seeing Carlos run ‘under control’ (as Willie describes the way he’s playing now) and dropping a routine popup. I agree that, even worse case scenario where Belty rips his quad wide open, this injury has no chance of affecting him next year. It’s a muscle, not structural or ligiment(al?). But not all sports doctors are created equal - just look at the way the Mets botched Reyes’ rehabs last year…they let a 20-year old run his own rehab! Reyes had no concept of what he was doing and continually pushed himself too hard too fast…I remember reading about the things he was doing on his own and in what timeframe at the time and being aghast…and no one told him to stop or slow down, and thus setbacks produced a lost year for him.
With Belty you have the added management pressures of being a marquee high ticket player, trying to prove himself to his new team and fans, with Willie having to do the same…but he’s already proven himself by being virtually injury-free in his career. I’d like to believe the Mets will do what’s right by him, but that’s just not the way sports works. If you’ve ever torn a quad you know what it does to your mobility and how long the effects linger. This is a case where all the MRIs in the world can’t tell you what the player can…and what he’s saying is he’s not 100%, and it would take a few weeks to get there. If less time is actually needed, grand, but either way shutting him down is worth the price of a dozen more games without him.
Naturally Belty just belted one as soon as I finished the post. Well, Pedro’s pitching after all.
With Pedro pitching you can pretty much plan on a Beltran dinger…and thats about the only time. Kinda scaring me cuz Pedro can only pitch one out of five times.
Geez, Beltran’s quad did not seem to bother him as he jogged around the bases last night. PLAY HIM. Let’s try and actually win something instead of marshalling resources for some magical day in the future that may never come. The Mets are a slugging first baseman away from making a run at this thing and they will have extra starting pitching that may get them a high contract slugger at the all-star break. Winning is what matters. PLAY HIM.