Joel Sherman of the New York Post writes that Carlos Beltran is “furious with the Mets” for how they’ve handled his knee surgery publicly and may let that impact his return timetable:
Of course, making sure he’s completely healthy following surgery before jumping back into the lineup is probably a good thing, so the notion that Beltran is hurting the team by not rushing back from a major injury seems kind of strange. After all the Mets went through last season, the last thing they should want is a star player going through something less than a full rehab and/or playing at less than full strength.
He wonders if he should have been playing last year (in other words, was he properly diagnosed?). More important, he pushed to initially play in pain and then rush back in a lost season.
The Mets probably should not expect Beltran to prioritize the team this time around. He turns 33 in April. His contract walk year is 2011. So I expect that Beltran will take care of No. 1 and make sure he does not do anything to hurt himself for a 2011 salary-drive season.