Okay- now that I have 2 more uniforms to put into dry storage and 3 t-shirts, to boot, I am both terribly saddened that the "Carlos Beltran era" of Met history has ended, while remaining extremely hopeful for the next chapter to begin, starting with Team Sandy's acquisition of uber-pitching-prospect, Zack Wheeler from the Giants in exchange for Beltran.
Wheeler instantly becomes the 2nd best pitching prospect in the organization, behind Matt Harvey, in light of Mejia's injury, and offers additional hope for greatness from the Mets future rotation: think Harvey/Familia/Wheeler/Niese/Mejia...(and do NOT jinx them by calling them Gen k-2!!)
For the past few days, even the best baseball journalists were convinced, from what they heard, that the Mets would be lucky, at best, to receive some B-level prospects in return for the teams' all-star right-fielder. Met fans never gave up hope, and once again, under Sandy's watch, their hope was successfully rewarded. IF Beltran had to be traded, and, sadly, he did, then at least the haul in return was the former #6 overall pick in the 2009 draft, a draft that looks better and better by the week.
Wheeler, a righty currently in Single A, has a long way to go still until he reaches the lofty heights predicted for him (top of rotation starter), but he has the raw stuff (92-95 mph fastball, a wicked curve and a still-developing change) to make it happen. His older brother Adam, a former pitcher in the Yankees' system, said about his brother's change of teams:
Indeed, Wheeler-the-elder is correct- the Mets CAN use him more- AND sooner - then the other, former denizens of the Polo Grounds, but here's hoping that Beltran, who never received the love he deserved from many fans (and that's a conversation for another day) will still consider coming back to Flushing this off-season, and that Sandy and company would still be both interested in, and have the money, to re-sign him as well. Now THAT would be an example of eating your cake AND having it, too...
PS- I am thinking about sending the Wilpons a bill for my now-useless jerseys...perhaps it's not too late to add me to Picard's lawsuit??
PPS - For more on Wheeler, check out ESPN New York's Ian O'Connor's take on the trade by clicking here.
Wheeler instantly becomes the 2nd best pitching prospect in the organization, behind Matt Harvey, in light of Mejia's injury, and offers additional hope for greatness from the Mets future rotation: think Harvey/Familia/Wheeler/Niese/Mejia...(and do NOT jinx them by calling them Gen k-2!!)
For the past few days, even the best baseball journalists were convinced, from what they heard, that the Mets would be lucky, at best, to receive some B-level prospects in return for the teams' all-star right-fielder. Met fans never gave up hope, and once again, under Sandy's watch, their hope was successfully rewarded. IF Beltran had to be traded, and, sadly, he did, then at least the haul in return was the former #6 overall pick in the 2009 draft, a draft that looks better and better by the week.
Wheeler, a righty currently in Single A, has a long way to go still until he reaches the lofty heights predicted for him (top of rotation starter), but he has the raw stuff (92-95 mph fastball, a wicked curve and a still-developing change) to make it happen. His older brother Adam, a former pitcher in the Yankees' system, said about his brother's change of teams:
"...I think the Mets can use him more than the Giants could."
Indeed, Wheeler-the-elder is correct- the Mets CAN use him more- AND sooner - then the other, former denizens of the Polo Grounds, but here's hoping that Beltran, who never received the love he deserved from many fans (and that's a conversation for another day) will still consider coming back to Flushing this off-season, and that Sandy and company would still be both interested in, and have the money, to re-sign him as well. Now THAT would be an example of eating your cake AND having it, too...
PS- I am thinking about sending the Wilpons a bill for my now-useless jerseys...perhaps it's not too late to add me to Picard's lawsuit??
PPS - For more on Wheeler, check out ESPN New York's Ian O'Connor's take on the trade by clicking here.
1 comment:
I agree. Sad to see him go, but happy we got Zack
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