For those of you who can’t wait for the Mets to trade Carlos Beltran, shame on you. Yes I was upset over his striking out looking in the 2006 NLCS but he was upset too, and I’ve moved on, hopefully you have too.

His 41 homers in 2006 ties Todd Hundley for the most in team history in a single season. He’s sixth on the all-time list with 149 homers. His 116 RBI in 2006 is tied for sixth in Mets history and his 554 ranks him 6th all time. He isn’t listed in the top ten for a single season or career for strikeouts, another important statistic. He’s had an impact and he’s arguably the 3rd or 4th best outfielder in the history of the franchise. He was that five-tool player.

Some will say he didn’t live up to his contract, but who could? He was productive and he did lead the Mets and his time with the team was successful. The Mets not making the World Series during his tenure isn’t all his fault, there were a lot of other reasons and some other stars didn’t live up to their contracts.

If I were the Mets I would ship him to the Phillies. The Phillies are also interested in Scott Hairston and Tim Byrdak. The Mets will have to eat some salary and if I were them I would ask for Joe Blanton, at $8.5 a year, at the age of 30, his elbow issue is minor and he could eat a lot of innings next season and the Phils would love to dump his salary with the emergence of Vance Worley. I would also ask for outfielder Domonic Brown. He would fit well in CitiField, and he would hit a ton of doubles down the road.

Reyes Thoughts

Jose Reyes loves to play baseball. Some don’t like his actions but I’ve seen him on the field and in the locker room and he’s a good guy. He’s good for the team, and he’s good for baseball. He might showboat out there but when you talk to him he doesn’t act like he’s the best at anything. One time when I interviewed him he didn’t even want to say he was the fastest player in the game at the time.

I saw him in good times and bad times. When he was walking around in a boot, earlier in his career, he was all smiles and he was a big part of the team. There are few talents like him in baseball and if he can average 130 or so games for the next 3-5 years the Mets are making the right move by keeping him, looking for investors, and trying to get him signed this winter. If the Mets and Sandy Alderson can pull that off the franchise will not only be saved but it could start to compete again next year with the expanded playoff roster and the trade listed above along with some smart offseason moves.

*on this day and a lot of days Carlos Beltran hit third in the Mets lineup.