Carlos the Clutch

George Vescey’s dismissal of Carlos Beltran, while a typical Met fan assessment, is one of the best examples of the fallacy of blaming a team’s disappointing performance on its best players you’ll ever see.   While the contract didn’t fully work out because of his inability to stay healthy, when healthy he was one of the best players in baseball.   And using his (correct) decision not to swing at Wainwright’s unhittable curve to make him the symbol of the 2006 loss — while shared by many up to and including the owner — is especially grotesque, given that he played brilliantly in that postseason.   He isn’t white “fiery” enough to get the reputation of being a hard-working, “clutch” player, but his record speaks for itself.

So I’m glad to see this corrective from Rany Jazayerli, which couldn’t be more right.  He’s a great player, one of the most underrated players in baseball.