Beltran Is Justly Critical Of The Mets

This morning Carlos Beltran  was officially introduced by the New York Yankees.  During his introduction press conference, the top inevitably turned towards his previous time in New York with the Mets.  His comments were less than flattering...

Regarding his departure from the Mets:

"The organization tried to portray me as the bad apple.  It 

hurt me and my family." 

"You've got to blame someone.  You've got to blame the guy

making the most money.  That's baseball."

"When someone is trying to hurt you in a personal way...

Then its personal.  Now we have trouble."

You'll recall that he and team were at odds over how to treat his barking knees, the year prior to his departure from the Mets.  You'll also recall that he missed the now infamous trip to Walter Reed Medical Center in DC (something I took an issue with).  His time with the Mets, especially at the end wasn't without controversy.

There will be folks to liken this to Curtis Granderson's swipes at the Yankees during his own introductory press conference.  Don't.  This wasn't playful.  There was not coy smile involved.  Beltran hold legitimate angst towards the Mets organization.  You may not care about his opinions, but you should.  Beltran is one of the most vanilla personalities in baseball.  He lets his play do the talking, the way it should be.  For him to make these comments, which are well out of character, this is something he's carried with him for some time.

Let this serve as a lesson to the Mets, who have continued to bad mouth players as they've walked out the door.  More recently than Beltran, the team publicly criticized RA Dickey after his trade to the Toronto Blue Jays.  Just this winter the team leaked a bogus explanation that the reason Justin Turner wasn't tendered a contract was a lack of hustle.

Whether or not you agree or disagree with any of what the Mets have said, its bad business.  It looks bad to other incoming players that if things don't go well, their reputation could be thrown under the bus.  Now we'll await a reply from the team's front office, because while they should certainly keep their mouths such, history says they won't.