Carlos Beltran’s time with the Mets came to an end yesterday. (AP)
Remember who Francisco Rodriguez and Carlos Beltran were in spring training. Because back then it was easy to believe the Mets would get nothing for them. Nothing on the field, and therefore nothing in the trade market.
Both were viewed as overpaid, disgruntled employees coming back from significant injuries. Heck, Beltran played three exhibition games in total and K-Rod had a vesting option for 2012 that made his contract status appear one of the ugliest in the game. The duo was just going to be money spent poorly, a lasting memory of a failed regime gone by. Oliver Perez and Luis Castillo, but with better pedigree and a place on the 25-man roster.
But, motivated perhaps by their potential walk years, Rodriguez and Beltran performed very well as Mets. And general manager Sandy Alderson’s administration capitalized on that, turning two players who were not in future plans into money saved and prospects added. It is not the kind of win for which Mets fans yearn. Yet it should not be minimized as victories go, especially if you have perspective of how little Rodriguez and Beltran were worth just four months ago.
This was a victory of front-office competence and the future — two areas that have been rather bleak in recent years for the Mets.
Yes, the Mets ate money to move Rodriguez and Beltran, but that was money they were spending regardless. But they also saved $5.5 million. Mets fans will hope that gets redirected to the team and not to the Wilpons’ Madoff-damaged wallets. The Mets also acquired two secondary prospects from Milwaukee for Rodriguez. But their main bounty was in obtaining Zack Wheeler from the Giants for Beltran.
That trade — Beltran, and $4 million of the roughly $6 million he was owed, for Wheeler — will not become official until today, owing to the 24-hour grace period provided any player with 10-and-5 rights like Beltran. But the Giants were the team Beltran preferred going to the most, thus it is highly doubtful there will be any snags in him waiving his no-trade rights.
Beltran, in fact, was as key an executive in this transaction as Alderson or Giants GM Brian Sabean. The no-trade provision gave him power to dictate his landing spot, and he wanted the Giants most, the Phillies second and no one else third. This was among the incredible obstacles in Alderson’s way as he tried to make a good trade for the best hitter in this trade deadline market.
It benefited the Mets that the Giants operate out of the major league mainstream. They do almost no statistical analysis. Their front office would not be described as particularly active in talking to many other teams. They are a rather reclusive organization that bases decisions heavily on their internal scouting — liking what they like with disregard how it will be viewed by the rest of the sport.
And this year particularly they were motivated to go for it by having sold out every home game, wanting to maximize the chances of repeating as champions and needing to replace their best offensive piece, catcher Buster Posey, who is out for the season. The Giants recognized their special rotation made Wheeler expendable, and also that the organization’s window to win is now.
For his part, Alderson prioritized obtaining the best prospect possible, valuing quality over quantity, even if it meant eating two-thirds of Beltran’s remaining dollars to get that. In the offseason, the Blue Jays did this by trading Shaun Marcum to Milwaukee for just Brett Lawrie, who has blossomed into a top-15 prospect.
In midseason best-prospects list, Wheeler was ranked between 31st and 36th by ESPN, Baseball America and Baseball Prospectus. Thus, the Mets move forward with two of the game’s top 20 starting prospects in Wheeler and Matt Harvey, and will imagine a future rotation built around them plus Jonathon Niese, Dillon Gee and perhaps Jenrry Mejia and Jeurys Familia. It is a much more promising picture than existed in spring — especially if Mejia returns well from Tommy John surgery.
Prospects, of course, are fickle. The Giants were criticized two Julys ago for giving up too good a pitching prospect to Pittsburgh in Tim Alderson (no relations to the Mets’ GM) for Freddy Sanchez. But Alderson — like Wheeler, a first-round pick — has yet to blossom.
Wheeler, 21, has not pitched above A-ball. But scouts project him as a No. 3 starter or better. There is worry about his control and that his fastball stays straight when he does not drive it down in the zone. But he pitches at 92-94 mph and tops out at 95-97 with good sink. He is considered to have good aptitude to keep improving his curve and changeup, and is viewed as possessing good composure.
Flaws or not, Wheeler was viewed as a very strong return for Beltran within the baseball industry, especially considering the hurdles involved in dealing Beltran. So this is the Mets’ most meaningful July 2011 victory.
joel.sherman@nypost.com