I watch a lot of Met games. I was down on Beltran after 2006 (looked at strike 3 to end the season against St. L.). But having seen him since then his value has become apparent to me. It is not unreasonable to say that he is among the very best center fielders right now. The main thing he seems to lack is leadership on and off the field, but you can’t hold that against him.

He fills a void (center field, speed, episodic clutch hitting)
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You can argue that you have or had that now.

I would like to take a closer look at the defensive numbers, I believe the players are closer than we give credit.

Why are folks so convinced that Beltran was the missing piece for the Yanks?
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Probably for the same reason people think Santana was the missing piece for the Yanks.

~~ Why are folks so convinced that Beltran was the missing piece for the Yanks? ~~

He fills a void (center field, speed, episodic clutch hitting) and would have been more comfortable not being perceived as the franchise player, which is how he arrived on the Mets.

And BTW, not _the_ missing piece, but _a_ missing piece.

First of all, kudos to Araton for being dead-on here about Cashman. More and more, you see references among the media and bloggers that truly reflect Cashman’s performance as Yankees G.M. – and, perhaps, someday, everyone will “get it.”
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As long as people keep referring to the $200M payroll, they won’t “get it.”

Fact of the matter is, a good portion of the payroll is tied up in players like ARod, Jeter, Posada, Rivera, Giambi, Pettitte and the like.

I don’t think anyone’s second guessing the acquisition of those players.

Why are folks so convinced that Beltran was the missing piece for the Yanks?

Consider that the Mets have two players who the Yankees passed on and who may have turned the Yanks’ franchise fortunes for the better had we signed them: Johan and Beltran.

The Yankees were foolish, in retrospect, not to make the Santana deal (and I was also drinking that ‘pitch the kids’ kool-aid last December).

And the owner’s foolish insistence on signing Randy Johnson did not leave enough $$$ for Beltran.

Aside: the Beltran matter is why I find it hard to blame Cashman for too much. To me, the story of the past 8 years is: “What players would Cashman have signed or not traded away (Ted Lilly?) had ownership (and the Tampa crowd) not been so meddlesome?”

Enough already with Johan Santana. The Mets are where the Yankees are, playing golf. And they’d still both be there now had Ca$hman traded for Santana. Dead issue.
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Couldn’t agree more. Some people really believe that if you take Santana’s 16 wins and just add them to the Yanks’ total of 89 that you’re talking playoffs right now. Never mind that the Yankees scored nearly 200 fewer runs…

Fully deserved or not, Cashman has three World Series and a couple more pennants on his resume. Steve Phillips went to ESPN because no one was about to hire him as GM again. Plenty of teams will want Cashman should he walk away, or, after signing a new deal, get fired.

Enough already with Johan Santana. The Mets are where the Yankees are, playing golf. And they’d still both be there now had Ca$hman traded for Santana. Dead issue.