Beltran's Reception

Open question: When Carlos Beltran steps to the plate for the first time tonight, what kind of reception do you expect him to receive?

Will he be welcomed like the difference-maker Mets fans were hoping he would be? Will he be remembered for coming back from injury last year when no one else did?

Or will it be something different?

Will his "elective" surgery, in January, loom large in the minds of the Citi Field faithful? Will fans draw causality between his return and the team's complete ineffectiveness since his return?

Mets fans have always had a complicated relationship with Beltran. There are any number of possible underlying reasons.

Could be because of reports that after securing his offer from the Mets, Beltran's team placed desperate calls to the Yankees saying he would join them for ~$19mm less.

Could be because of his dreadful first season in Flushing, or because he held the bat on his shoulders against Adam Wainwright in the NLCS after a brilliant 2006 campaign.

Or by this point, it could simply be that over the course of Beltran's long contract, the team has made the playoffs once, broken our hearts 2-3 times with season-ending defeats, and given us the completely dreadful year in '09.

Add on top of that the more than serviceable job Angel Pagan did in the first half filling in for him, and the fact that Beltran's return displaces a popular player in Jeff Francoeur, and you can see where the reception tonight could get ugly.

I tend to think Mets fans will focus more of their ire on Luis Castillo and Jason Bay, but I guess we'll see. Anyone taking bets?

- A.F.O.M.G.