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Beltran speaks!

Benjamin Grimm Feb 16 2008 06:28 PM

="MIKE FITZPATRICK, AP Baseball Writer"]Normally quiet Beltran has familiar message for Rollins: `We are the team to beat' By MIKE FITZPATRICK, AP Baseball Writer February 16, 2008 PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. (AP) -- Johan Santana's first workout with the New York Mets had his teammates all pumped up -- even quiet Carlos Beltran. The star center fielder reported to camp three days early Saturday and revealed he probably won't be ready to play when spring training games start because he's still rehabbing from Oct. 3 surgery on both knees. That hardly put him in a sour mood, though. An upbeat Beltran spoke excitedly about the club's new ace and had a right-back-at-you message for Philadelphia shortstop Jimmy Rollins. ADVERTISEMENT "Let me tell you this: Without Santana, we felt as a team that we have a chance to win in our division. With him now, I have no doubt that we're going to win in our division," Beltran said. "So this year, to Jimmy Rollins -- we are the team to beat!" Of course, it was Rollins who boasted last offseason that his Phillies were the team to beat in the NL East, even though the Mets had run away with the 2006 division title. The comment made headlines in New York and turned Rollins into a ripe target for angry boos at Shea Stadium. He backed up his words, however, leading Philadelphia's late-season surge past the fading Mets for its first division championship in 14 years. On the strength of outstanding numbers (and perhaps his clairvoyant prediction), Rollins won the NL MVP award. Does Beltran plan to duplicate that feat, too? "I don't know about that," he said. "We'll find out." Beltran's bravado was completely out of character for a placid guy who has even been criticized in New York at times for not showing enough fiery emotion. In fact, his message to Rollins came moments after this comment: "Spotlight for me doesn't mean anything. ... I'm not going to change. I'm going to be quiet. I don't say much. That's my personality." No wonder his teammates were so surprised to hear about such a boast from Beltran, who became a father in October. "Wow!" manager Willie Randolph said. "I guess when you have a little baby girl you get a little confidence." But closer Billy Wagner cautioned that grand pronouncements can backfire. "You create more of a target," he said. "Now, you have to lead." Wagner also said Beltran will have to be around to "answer the questions" and take the "punishment" if he gets off to a slow start or things don't go well. "My teammate, I got his back," Wagner said. Third baseman David Wright thinks it's a good sign that Beltran voiced such confidence. "Different guys have different ways to pump up their team. Personally, I don't feel the need to declare anything because talk is cheap, especially in February," Wright said. "Just for him to make that statement shows that he's stepping up and he's going to do his part." Rollins is scheduled to report to Phillies camp by Monday. When told about Beltran's comment, Philadelphia manager Charlie Manuel said: "I got nothing to say about that. You have to ask Jimmy. I could see why they'd feel good with Johan." Manuel did say, however, that he prefers when players just speak with their bats. "Let Louisville do the talking," he explained. Beltran, who signed a $119 million, seven-year contract with the Mets as a free agent before the 2005 season, batted .276 with 33 homers, 112 RBIs and 23 stolen bases last year. He had arthroscopic surgery on his knees to relieve tendinitis and said he hasn't been able to try running or turning at full speed yet. "I took all my swings in Puerto Rico, so I come to spring training ready to swing the bat," Beltran said. "But the thing is, who's going to run?" As he works his way back to 100 percent, Beltran isn't sure when he'll be able to play in exhibition games. But he acknowledged he probably won't be ready when they begin late this month. "He can roll out of bed and hit. I'm not concerned about Carlos Beltran," Wright said. "You can give him 10 or 15 at-bats this spring and he'd probably be ready to go."

Rockin' Doc Feb 16 2008 08:09 PM

I just hope that Beltran is as good a prognosticator as Rollins was last year.

Frayed Knot Feb 17 2008 07:20 AM

So we have the first entry in the 'most over-played story of the first week of spring' contest. Some fans get all pissed off over this kind of stuff, thinking that it's bad because it'll give the other side "more incentive" to play hard ... as if some sentence spoken in February will have some tangible effect over the next 7 months. Others get all excited (as some on the radio did yesterday) taking this as a sign that their guy is super-duper psyched for the coming year. Personally, I yawn.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 17 2008 07:21 AM

yah. no story.

SteveJRogers Feb 17 2008 07:35 AM

Frayed Knot wrote: Others get all excited (as some on the radio did yesterday) taking this as a sign that their guy is super-duper psyched for the coming year. Too be fair, there are fans out there looking for some spark of life, and anger, from anyone on the Mets since early last summer not named LoDuca. This is a team that performed the worst regular season collapse in the history of baseball, you should see some bulletin board fodder from them, just to show that the page has been turned and the team truly is angry about what happened.

Frayed Knot Feb 17 2008 07:47 AM

Like I said ... Yawn. This is why spring training coverage mostly suxx and why most football coverage drives me nuts too; that in the absence of actual games there's so little of [u:7c7dee629c]real[/u:7c7dee629c] substance going on that we take non-stories like this and ponder them as if if actually meaningful.

metirish Feb 17 2008 07:50 AM

Saw this last night on SNY, they made a big deal outta it and even had a response from Shane Victorino who predictably said Beltran would have to back it up and that the games are played on the field. Coste thought Beltran was "just having fun" which is what it seemed like when he was talking.

metsmarathon Feb 17 2008 08:10 AM

gee, y'know, if carlos hadn't opened up his mouth, i woulda just thought the mets didn't give a rats behind, and were just content to go into the next season, collect a paycheck, and go home. but now, boy! i'm worried that suddenly philly isn't going to let us walk away with the division title and might actually try to beat us when we play each other.

SteveJRogers Feb 17 2008 08:36 AM

Heh, I was playing the devil's advocate, but I was saying that I can see where the fans that are giddy about Beltran saying it are coming from. They see it as a sign that things are changing from last year, that the feelings of boredom that Carlos Delgado spoke about last summer won't happen this year. That along with reports of Jose Reyes "stepping things up" this winter, as well as this quote from David Wright in today's Post Q&A : ]Q: Did you change your offseason training routine? A: I stepped it up a notch. I eliminated all the promotional and endorsement stuff where I had to travel. I wanted to do everything I could to not allow another collapse to happen Yeah it is all cosmetic and a PR thing to appease fans after the worst collapse in regular season history, but would you rather them not talk, and continue acting in the malaise that caused the collapse in the first place?

metirish Feb 17 2008 08:42 AM

SteveJAdvocate, I'm surprised Wright didn't say he 's in the " best shape he's ever been in", six more weeks of this....nooooooooooooooo

metsmarathon Feb 17 2008 09:23 AM

i would rather it not be treated as news...

MFS62 Feb 17 2008 09:37 AM

Beltran normally wouldn't say "shit" if he had a mouthfull. So the fact that he's so vocal makes me think that the Mets will be playing with extreme motivation this year, to erase the memory of last year's debacle. This is a good sign. Later

Valadius Feb 17 2008 09:54 AM

I think they're angry. My hope is that last season was 1985 and this year turns out to be 1986.

holychicken Feb 18 2008 09:34 AM

Frayed Knot wrote: Like I said ... Yawn. This is why spring training coverage mostly suxx and why most football coverage drives me nuts too; that in the absence of actual games there's so little of real substance going on that we take non-stories like this and ponder them as if if actually meaningful. I don't agree that it is a non-story. Certainly, it is probably not something Jimmy Rollins is going to dig up in September to motivate his team for an important late season series against the Mets. . . but certainly it gives some kind of insight into how Beltran is thinking. And considering that this is BELTRAN, who never says anything, it certainly is a change of pace from his normal al la carte media responses.

Benjamin Grimm Feb 18 2008 09:37 AM

I agree that the uncharacteristic bravado on Beltran's part is notable. I don't know that it will mean much in September, but it's somewhat of interest in February.

AG/DC Feb 18 2008 08:10 PM

SteveJRogers wrote: This is a team that performed the worst regular season collapse in the history of baseball... Deba table. De batable. Highly debatab le. Meanwhile, the other Carlos backs his paisan up: "Of course," Delgado said. "What is he going to say? That we're going to lose? No? I think we've got the best team, but we have to do it on the field. We have to go out and play." "You can talk all you want, you can say all you want, but at the end of day, all that matters is what happens between the two white lines," Delgado said. "I think the addition of Santana is a big key for us. I think we got the best team. It's just a matter of going out there and executing." Then, I think, he got bored.

metirish Feb 21 2008 08:19 PM

Not going away.... [url=http://www.newsday.com/sports/baseball/mets/ny-spmets0222,0,2690591.story]War of words takes new turn between Mets, Phillies[/url]

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 21 2008 08:57 PM

Not to sound like a complete neandertard, but I kinda like there being a little juice in this Met-Philly rivalry (which undoubtedly will attract lots of mooks to the games). However, I'm not convinced the Mets can take the Phils in a fight.

SteveJRogers Feb 21 2008 09:06 PM

Resisting the urge to make poll about changing Triple Happiness to Mets Win, Yankees Loss and Phillies Loss...

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 21 2008 09:28 PM

That's not resistance.

Gwreck Feb 21 2008 09:36 PM

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: However, I'm not convinced the Mets can take the Phils in a fight. Maybe not. I sure wouldn't want to face them in a short playoff series. But over 162 games? I can't see their pitching holding up against the Mets. Even if we only get 40 starts from Pedro/El Duque combined. The back half of their rotation -- Durbin/Eaton/Benson/Moyer is pretty bad.

Frayed Knot Feb 22 2008 09:05 AM

You know what we be even better than two guys squaring off in an in-game fight? A Full-Fledged Rumble!!! Can't you just see it? Two teams facing each other on the field snapping their fingers as they size each other up: MILLEDGE: When you're a Met, You're a Met all the way From your first pinstriped shirt Til they trade you away WAGNER: When you're a Met, you get torched from the fans, til you shut down the game, and you get a big hand ALL: You're never alone, you're always disrespected! Even at your own home frustration is expected From the well-connected! BELTRAN: When you're a Met you're the top cat in town I'll kick Jimmy's skinny butt for the MVP crown SANTANA: Now I'm a Met as I've inked my big deal and the crap they gave up makes it seem like a steal ALL: The Mets are in gear, we'll deal with those imposters 'Cause every Puerto Rican star is already on our roster DELGADO: Here come the Mets, in our last year at Shea when the Phils fly to town we'll just swat them away MINAYA: Our roster's so deep, our rotation's a dream it's the best in the league ifyouknowwhatImean ALL: Here come the Mets, we ain't gonna get beat out on Roosevelt Ave, or even down on Broad Street Even on Mother Lovin' Broad Street! Yeah!! or not, whatever.

John Cougar Lunchbucket Feb 22 2008 09:12 AM

Nice. I was actually thinking above of the teams dropping the gloves and going at it and I don't think the Mets want to be in that fight. Wright is the superior ballplayer, but Utley looks like he can use his fists. Howard will destroy any Met except maybe Castro. Myers you know ain't afraid to pick on someone smaller than he is and he's the kind of meathead who'll swing first and ask questions later whereas you wouldn't wanna see Santana or Pedro take that kind of a risk. Rollins is from Oakland -- you know he can go. We're really going to have to rely on Church and Schneider here to do our dirty work, cuz I don't see who else you really want to throw down on the Mets. We're too old and delicate.

AG/DC Feb 22 2008 09:24 AM

I'm going to say yeah. I want to see bats do the talking and the fists kept at bay. I broke up a fight yesterday. The guy I grabbed had about 40 pounds on me. I had him in a bear hug from behind and had that wonderful moment of clarity where your adrenaline stops and you get rational and think, "OK, smart guy, now that you've got him, what are going to do with him?" I kept my arms locked together, preessed my face into his back and prayed a Hail Mary until my heavyweight wingman finally arrived. I definitely would have preferred to play baseball with the guy.

Benjamin Grimm Feb 22 2008 09:29 AM

Your office is a lot more interesting than mine is.

Gwreck Feb 22 2008 10:55 AM

John Cougar Lunchbucket wrote: Nice. I was actually thinking above of the teams dropping the gloves and going at it and I don't think the Mets want to be in that fight. Wright is the superior ballplayer, but Utley looks like he can use his fists. Howard will destroy any Met except maybe Castro. Myers you know ain't afraid to pick on someone smaller than he is and he's the kind of meathead who'll swing first and ask questions later whereas you wouldn't wanna see Santana or Pedro take that kind of a risk. Rollins is from Oakland -- you know he can go. We're really going to have to rely on Church and Schneider here to do our dirty work, cuz I don't see who else you really want to throw down on the Mets. We're too old and delicate. Delgado? Duaner? I think they could go pretty well too.

AG/DC Feb 22 2008 11:02 AM

Delgado strikes me as somebody who did some boxing in his younger days. That may help you land a quick one-two like Ray Knight, but boxers aren't always good brawlers because they sqaure off with a single guy and don't always see the other guy coming from the flank.

KC Feb 22 2008 11:08 AM

BG: >>>Your office is a lot more interesting than mine is<<< The only people in my office that have forty pounds on me are women - and I'm not terribly tiny. I shouldn't hit "submit" No. Ouch, did it anyway ...

holychicken Feb 22 2008 01:22 PM

LOL

Frayed Knot Feb 22 2008 02:20 PM

AG/DC wrote: Delgado strikes me as somebody who did some boxing in his younger days. Actually his sport in his youth, other than baseball, was volleyball.

AG/DC Feb 22 2008 02:36 PM

Well, that... could come in handy... somehow.