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.

26-year old switch hitting shortstop Jose Reyes was running the bases earlier this week when he tore his hamstring. He also has a torn tendon behind his right knee. Reyes will probably need at least one surgery in the off-season and the Mets pray that it doesn’t effect his speed. Reyes only played in 36 games for the Mets this season and he was 41 for 147 (.279 avg, .750 OPS) with 18 runs scored, 2 homers, 15 RBIs and 11 stolen bases. The Mets really missed his bat atop the lineup this season. Reyes has now played in 791 games for the Mets in his career and he is 960 for 3,353 (.286 avg, .772 OPS) with 551 runs scored, 63 homers, 325 RBIs and 301 stolen bases. A lot of the Mets’ success next season will be determined by Jose Reyes’ health.

The Mets were insane to give 28-year old lefty starting pitcher Oliver Perez a lot of cash over the winter. He has never had the control to take advantage of his stuff and his wildness has returned in a big way this season. Perez has started 14 games for the Mets this season and he is 3-4 with a 6.82 ERA and a 1.92 WHIP. In 66 innings for the Mets this season, Perez has walked 58 batters and allowed 12 dingers. On the bright side, Perez has walked 62 batters but he needs to throw more strikes and quit trying to whiff everyone. Until he can do that he will not succeed in the majors ever again.

UPDATE: Oliver Perez will miss the rest of the 2009 season due to recent knee surgery.

The Mets will be without 30-year old lefty starting pitcher Johan Santana for the rest of the season after he underwent arthroscopic surgery to remove bone spurs from his left elbow. Santana pitched in 25 games (all starts) for the Mets this season and he was 13-9 with a 3.13 ERA and a 1.21 WHIP. In two years with the Mets now, Santana has pitched in 59 games (all starts) in which he is 29-16 with a 2.78 ERA and a 1.17 WHIP. The doctors say that Santana will be ready for spring training so it was smart to shut him down.

The Mets have lost 22-year old lefty starting pitcher Jon Niese for the season due to surgery he needed to repair a torn right upper hamstring tendon which was separated from the bone. Niese pitched in 5 games (all starts) for the Mets this season and he was 1-1 with a 4.21 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. This was unfortunate for Niese as he was getting his first big chance to show the Mets what he could do.