Bomber Bites: Aren’t We Being Just A Tad Harsh On Carlos Beltran?

I think back to last winter. The Yankees seemed to be in on every big name free agent not named Robinson Cano. The Bronx Bombers were coming off a playoff-less season in 2013, and ownership was prepared to open the wallet and spend BIG. One of the dire positions of need was right field. Nick Swisher had defected for Cleveland after the 2012 season, and New York had no intention of bringing him back. Instead, in 2013, Ichiro Suzuki played in 150 games, and showed every bit of his age, hitting only .262, with a .297 on-base percentage. The need was real, and there was one specific free agent the Yankees had their eye on.

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Enter former New York Mets star Carlos Beltran. During his previous two seasons as a member of the Cardinals, Beltran played at least 145 games, posting on average, a triple-slash line of .283/.342/.493, while hitting 28 home runs and 91 driven in. Pretty solid numbers right? Not to mention that he has been cash money in October–something that the Yankees noticed and became attracted to.

Fast-forward to 2014. Beltran signs his three-year, $45 million dollar deal, when it had originally appeared that he was headed back to his original team the Kansas City Royals. The Yankees snatched him away from the grips of defeat, and Yankee fans everywhere rejoiced. Then came the injury. A bone spur in his elbow, and it affected every facet of his game.

Beltran’s fielding suffered, along with the primary reason the Yankees brought him to the Bronx: to be a middle-of-the-order run producer. His injuries limited him to just 109 games, and cut his offensive production almost in half: a .233 average, 15 home runs and 49 RBI. Fans have for some reason, turned on the 37-year old outfielder, and now rue the day the Yankees ever inked him to a deal. Read through social media on any given day, and you can see terms such as washed up, bum, old man, over the hill, waste of money. Isn’t that just a tad harsh? What late thirties professional athlete doesn’t suffer the occasional debilitating injury that ruins a season? Kobe Bryant isn’t a bum, a has been or washed up, yet for the second time in the past several years, he recently suffered a crippling injury.

Shouldn’t we give Carlos Beltran the benefit of the doubt until he proves for more than one season that he doesn’t deserve it? How stupid are fans going to feel when and if, he returns completely healthy in 2015, and hits .290 with 25 bombs and 90 ribs? All will be forgiven? The man has earned some slack for his body of work over the length of his career. This is a guy that always dreamed of being a Yankee. Beltran has had injury-riddled, down seasons before. Remember 2010? He played in 64 games, hit .255 and had only 7 home runs and 27 RBI. That was five years ago, and we’ve seen what he did in the time since.

We as fans, media members, and the like, should reserve judgement on calling Carlos Beltran washed up, and money wasted, until the end of his contract. After all, it’s not like the Yankees are on the hook for another half a decade and $60 mil or so. The Yankees and Beltran have two seasons and $30 million left to figure things out. It could be worse. Beltran isn’t named C.C. Sabathia, Mark Teixeira, or Alex Rodriguez. With Beltran, anything less than a full bounce back season would be the disappointment, not the fact that he tried to play hurt and contribute regardless of how poorly he played.

Give the man a break, and let’s see how he does in 2015.

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