The New York Mets lose Carlos Beltran for a while
Carlos Beltran is having microfracture surgery on his right knee which will cause him to have to be idle for 12 weeks. He is likely to miss at least all of April for the Mets putting them in a tough position. The 32-year old switch-hitting Beltran played in only 81 games for the Mets last season and he was 100 for 308 (.325 avg, .915 OPS) with 50 runs scored, 10 homers, 48 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. He has now played in 677 games in his five years with the Mets and he is 720 for 2,560 (.281 avg, .873 OPS) with 469 runs scored, 127 homers, 466 RBIs and 94 stolen bases. The Mets are lucky they held onto 28-year old switch-hitting outfielder Angel Pagan whose name kept coming up in trade rumors because he will replace Beltran until he is ready to play again. Pagan played in 88 games for the Mets last season and he was 105 for 343 (.306 avg, .837 OPS) with 54 runs scored, 6 homers, 32 RBIs and 14 stolen bases.