MLB

Beltran: Bring back Delgado

Carlos Beltran knows who he would like to see play first base for the Mets next season, and his name isn’t Daniel Murphy.

The All-Star center fielder, appearing at a charity event yesterday in Harlem, put in a strong plug for Puerto Rican countryman Carlos Delgado to be brought back.

“Honestly, I would love to,” Beltran said when asked if he would like to see the Mets re-sign the 37-year-old slugger. “That’s up to the team, but Delgado is a guy who, when healthy, you’re going to get a lot of contributions from him.”

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Delgado, who filed for free agency last week, missed all but 26 games last season due to hip surgery and a strained oblique. But he told Beltran recently that he plans to play winter ball in Puerto Rico to prove he is healthy.

The Mets haven’t ruled out re-signing Delgado to a cheaper, incentive-laden contract, but they sound more interested in acquiring a low-cost veteran to platoon with Murphy at first in a one-year bridge to top prospect Ike Davis in 2011.

Beltran thinks the Mets would be wise to go with Delgado.

“He’s a 30-home run, 100-RBI guy,” Beltran said. “He’s a guy who’s safe to invest money in because he takes care of himself.”

The push for Delgado is part of Beltran’s overall feeling that the Mets should not break up the team’s core of himself, Delgado, Jose Reyes, David Wright and Johan Santana while trying to bounce back from last season’s 70-92 disaster.

If the Mets can stay healthy, Beltran said he isn’t intimidated by the Phillies’ three consecutive NL East titles and back-to-back World Series appearances.

“Right now, with the team that we have, I feel that we have a chance,” Beltran said.

At the same time, Beltran wants the Wilpons and GM Omar Minaya to add talent in free agency and said he believes they will live up to their October promise to do so.

“They’re trying to bring players they feel can help us,” Beltran said. “The organization is doing their part.”

As for his own health, Beltran said he is fully recovered from the bone bruise in his right knee that caused him to miss more than two months.

Beltran said he hasn’t felt pain in the knee since before he returned for the final month of the season, although the Mets will do tests in December or January to make sure he is completely healthy.

“I feel good,” Beltran said. “I was happy I finished the season because it gave me the mental peace of going home thinking that I was able to recuperate and finish the season playing.”