Joe Posnanski on Carlos Beltran

[batmagadanleadoff]

Nice piece by Joe Posnanski on Carlos Beltran written just after Beltran's Rocky Mountain Three-HR Act. This quote (below) suggests a more sensible way to remember the 2006 version of Carlos Beltran:

I remember after his miserable 2005 season in New York, there were people saying that he would never be able to handle New York. And so, blammo, in 2006 he had perhaps the greatest every-day-player season in Mets history.

Warning: Reading the full article requires wading through much commentary on Derek Jeter: half of the piece is about Jeter, essentially a Beltran-Jeter comparison.

[soupcan]

batmagadanleadoff wrote: Warning: Reading the full article requires wading through much commentary on Derek Jeter: half of the piece is about Jeter, essentially a Beltran-Jeter comparison.

Fuck that, I ain't reading it.

[Willets Point]

soupcan wrote: Warning: Reading the full article requires wading through much commentary on Derek Jeter: half of the piece is about Jeter, essentially a Beltran-Jeter comparison. Fuck that, I ain't reading it.

Unless it's comparisons like "Beltran is a great player, Jeter is a douche."

[metirish]

I skimmed it and here's all you need to read

And that leads to the second question: Who is likely to be a better player from here on out? Jeter is older. But Beltran has had severe injuries. Jeter is a walking-talking legend. Beltran is in the last year of a contract that pretty much everyone wants to end. Jeter has played his whole career at shortstop, and shortstops do not age well. Beltran has played center field, which is rough on players, too, but he has moved to a corner outfield spot, where players do age a little better. So who would you bet on to have more value from this year on? Well, you know how Jeter has looked so far this year � his two-homer game aside. Beltran, meanwhile, has looked terrific at the plate in the early part of this season. His strikeout rate is down again, his fly ball percentage is way up (he leads the National League in doubles and extra base hits at the moment), and he�s catching up to the fastball, at least for the time being. One of the amazing parts of Beltran�s game has been his ability to adapt to his circumstances. I remember after the 2002 season, he decided he needed to cut down his strikeouts. And so, blammo, he cut down his strikeouts. Like it was easy. Players can spend entire careers trying and failing to cut down on strikeouts � Beltran did it in one off-season. I remember after his miserable 2005 season in New York, there were people saying that he would never be able to handle New York. And so, blammo, in 2006 he had perhaps the greatest every-day-player season in Mets history.

[batmagadanleadoff]

Warning: Reading the full article requires wading through much commentary on Derek Jeter: half of the piece is about Jeter, essentially a Beltran-Jeter comparison. Fuck that, I ain't reading it.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Does it help that the Jeter bit's mostly about how he's falling off a cliff now, skills-wise?

It's about aging and playing context.

[Guest Edgy DC]

And that leads to the second question: Who is likely to be a better player from here on out? Jeter is older. But Beltran has had severe injuries. Jeter is a walking-talking legend. Beltran is in the last year of a contract that pretty much everyone wants to end. Jeter has played his whole career at shortstop, and shortstops do not age well. Beltran has played center field, which is rough on players, too, but he has moved to a corner outfield spot, where players do age a little better.

Beltran is in the last year of a contract that pretty much everyone wnats to end. Jeter is in the first year of a contract that, if not everyone wants it to end, it says a lot of things about everyone.

Beltran makes $18,500,000 this season. Jeter makes $48,000,000 over the next three years, with a player option beyond that guaranteed to push the contract past $50 million.

Fifty!

[Guest John Cougar Lunchbucket]

soupcan wrote: Warning: Reading the full article requires wading through much commentary on Derek Jeter: half of the piece is about Jeter, essentially a Beltran-Jeter comparison. Fuck that, I ain't reading it.

Soupy's on fire today.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

He's trying to load up on the Jeterpraise there for rhetorical effect when he hits his real point.

It's not the most adept writing move Posnanski's ever made, but he's only really suffering in comparison to his own material.

[G-Fafif]

I must admit I at first avoided the article because the idea of comparing them turned me off. Posnanski was being a tourist, I figured -- one of those tourists from an American League town who assumes the sun rises and sets on the MFYs. But he did a nice job stringing the two players together based on the tabloid treatment. And of course, blammo, Beltran came out looking good.

[Guest LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr]

Posnanski's no tourist.

He loves leuves lurves louvres our Voltron.

[soupcan]

batmagadanleadoff wrote:

[G-Fafif]

LeiterWagnerFasterStrongr wrote: Posnanski's no tourist. He loves leuves lurves louvres our Voltron.

Every American League fan from somewhere else is a tourist when it comes to viewing the MFYs through the prism of NY.