Still sifting through the fall out of the Beltran situation. I’m trying to figure out the who, what and where of this recent shit storm to hit the Mets:

Carlos Beltran

Beltran will turn 33 years old by the second week of the 2010 season and he has what looks like chronic osteoarthritis in his right knee. Hopefully the arthroscopic surgery performed on him will alleviate the pain and clean out loose cartilage that was floating around his knee. The post op outlook is Beltran will be out 12 weeks and then resume baseball activity. So earliest we will see Beltran in a Mets uniform is May.  There is no replacement for Beltran as 25-30 HR 100+ RBI and his coverage in CF can not be replaced. As it stands now, Angel Pagan will be the CF’er unless the Mets go out and sign Rick Ankiel or hope the Highlanders re-sign Johnny Damon and release Brett Gardner. In other words the Mets are fucked.

Mets Medical Staff

More embarrassment for this group. Obviously, Beltran has no faith in them as he went to his own doctor to have the surgery done. Now the team is circling the wagons by releasing a statement that Dr Altcheck, the Mets team doctor was consulted by Dr. Steadman, Beltran’ surgeon of choice, to show they are all on the same page, which is of course bullshit. The medical staff of the Mets should have been addressed after last season but the club decided to bring back the whole staff. Mets players show what they think of that decision by going outside the organization for medical treatment. What an endorsement.

Mets Front Office

Who is in charge? It’s not Omar that’s for sure. I will bet a dollar that David Howard is the voice behind the conference call today to wipe the egg off the teams face after this miscommunication. One thing we do know is,the organization had its pants pulled down on them in public again and it again calls for Freddy Skill Sets to step up and take is incompetent son out of the baseball loop. Put aside the on field problem with no Beltran, this episode again makes the Mets look like amateurs. Just when the fan base was feeling a tad optimistic with the signing of Jason Bay and the self control the front office has displayed with the overrated talent on the free agent front, this just wipes away any goodwill. It’s SOM Same Old Mets.

Hey don’t worry, Bengi Molina is on the way YAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I will have much more on the Beltran saga and other Mets news tonight on Pro Baseball Central at 9PM ET on Blogtalk Radio. My guest will be Joe Fiorello of Disgruntled Mets fan and a fellow member of the BBA. You can join in the conversation as well by calling in at (646) 595-4462.

Seems Ken Davidoff agrees with me about Johnny Damon and it seems that Davidoff and I are the only ones’ who think it’s a good idea, even Matthew Cerone, who I hold in high esteem said he’d rather have Angel Pagan over Damon YIKES!!!!

From reading some of the comments here and on Metsblog I’m kind of shocked at the level of disrespect towards Damon. Yes he has a rag arm and his power that he displayed as a Highlander most likely won’t play the same at $iti Field but he walks into your clubhouse a two time World Champion a high profile player on two of the highest profile teams and matching him with Frenchy would finally turnaround the Mets Clubhouse.

This would not be a long term deal, 2 yrs at most. The bottom line here Mets fans is Jason Bay doesn’t love you or your team, in fact he can’t stand your losing ass’ even for 4yrs/$60 mil

Now if you excuse me I have to baste myself in Ben-Gay after shoveling my driveway and sidewalk

It’s time to tell Jason Bay and Bengi Molina we’re not interested. Call both their bluffs in fact just tell Bay’s agent “sorry we’ve had second thoughts” then call Molina’s guy and Rod Barajas guy and the first one to say yes to a 2yr incentive laden deal gets that deal.

The reason I’m ready to “Bay-O, Bayyyyyyyyyyyy-O we’ve got no deal so you gotta go home”, is I want the Mets to sign Johnny Damon to play LF in 2010 and 2011

Now I’m not saying that Damon is better than Bay, he’s not, but the drop off is not so fierce that you could get Damon for half the money you’d spend on Bay and with less commitment. Then of course there is the all important intangibles. Damon is a dynamic presences in the clubhouse, he has dissed publicly by the Highlanders so you know he is going to come to camp ready to make a big statement, and he wears two world championship rings from two of the highest profile team sin sports. Not to mention the good will you would build up with Scott Boras for making his client look good after he (Boras) dropped the ball with the Highlander negotiations.

I’ve come to the conclusion that the last team Jason Bay wants to be a part of is the New York Mets. There is no mystery team, there is no competition for his services, now would be the time to tell Bay and his agent we’re going in another direction and announce the signing of Johnny Damon to a 2yr/18 mil deal with incentives to get the money over $20 mil. Damon is a winner and those types of players are in short supply I Queens.

Enjoy Camden Yards Jason.