Aging and Injury Plagued Carlos Beltan Equals 2011 Fantasy Baseball Bust

The Mets are going to be awful this season and Carlos Beltran is going to be a big part of that.

The former Astros playoff hero has never lived up to the enormous contract the Mets threw at him in 2005.

Does a guy that hit .255 while hitting seven home runs and 27 RBI sound like a worthy pick-up to you?

After sitting out for half the season in 2010 with a knee injury, Beltran had an abysmal 66 games.

The soon to be 34 year-old Beltran has seen his home runs, RBI and stolen bases decrease in every season since 2006.

To add insult to injury, now his “good” knee is bothering him according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News:

“Despite the apparent positive news, the Mets learned this month that Beltran’s knees will probably require careful attention all season. After arriving at camp and requesting a move to right field, Beltran has played in just one Grapefruit League game. He batted three times on March 6, dashed from second to home on a base hit, and succumbed to tendinitis in his left knee the following day. That issue stemmed from Beltran favoring the knee over his surgically repaired right one.”

If that isn’t the definition of a red flag then I don’t know what is.

Clearly Beltran isn’t going to start the season healthy and that is terrible news for an aging player that has seen his skills diminsh steadily over the last five years.

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