We all know the situation with Carlos Beltran being in his last remaining days as a Met. We also know that Beltran is one of the most polarizing figures in Met history, he has taken a lot of crap from Met fans who's expectations were blown way out of proportion. 

After Beltran had that amazing 2004 post season, Omar Minaya (shudder) went out and signed Beltran and when he struggled in 2005 (.266/.330/414 with 17 HRs and 78 RBI) fans immediately jumped down his throat, it also didn't help that Beltran broke Mike Cameron's face after the two collided in San Diego. But then something happened the next year in 2006, Beltran became awesome (.275/ .388/ .594 with 41 HRs and 116 RBI) he had big late inning hits and two great walk off homers against the Cardinals and the Phillies. Everyone was happy with Carlos, he seemed to win the the fans over as the team kept on winning. 

However, in game 7 of the NLCS Carlos looked at strike three in the bottom of the 9th with the bases loaded. While that still stings, the pitch was quite possibly one of the best curve balls I have ever seen and if Carlos made contact he probably would have just rolled it over to Scott Rolen. No one will remember that he hit .296/.387/.667 during that series all that mattered was that he wasn't "clutch" fans forgetting the fact that if the Mets had both Pedro Martinez and Orlando Hernandez both healthy, that series doesn't go to game 7. But I digress

The following two years were tough ones for Met fans, but Carlos still continued to rake and prove why he was one of the best in the game at his position. With the bullpen blowing game after game in 07 and with Carlos Delgado seemingly deteriorating in front of our eyes it was a very frustrating two years for Met fans. 

One indelible Beltran memory from 2008 would be that he hit the last Met home run in Shea Stadium, in the bottom of the fifth inning Beltran belted a bomb to the bleachers to tie the game at 2, unfortunately we all know how that game ended. 

The last three seasons have been riddled with injuries for Carlos, seeing the wear and tear that patrolling center field does to his knees, Carlos began to miss games and fans began to jump on him that he was "soft" and "selfish". Carlos was lumped into a group with Luis Castillo and Ollie Perez as "clubhouse cancers" providing a scapegoat as to why the team wasn't performing up to standard. It also didn't help that Carlos went to one of his charity functions instead of going to Walter Reed Army Hospital when the team was in Washington. That is when I feel the fans turned on him permanently and when Carlos went off to get knee surgery without telling the team the media began feeding the flames. 

Now that Carlos is back, playing a full season healthy for the first time in three years Beltran is back to being awesome, but with his contract ending and the Mets in a rebuilding mode it seems the best move for the team would be to try and get some top line prospects to reload the system

Just for the sake of comparison after the jump I'm gonna add in the career Met totals of two notable Met outfielders one is Beltran, can you guess the other (hint, you probably will immediately)

Carlos Beltran: .280/ .368/ .501 with a .870 OPS and career 149 HRs and 554 RBI

Mystery Outfielder: .263/ .359/ .520 with a .878 OPS and career 252 HRs and 733 RBI 

(All stats from Baseball References)