As Carlos Beltran makes his 2010 debut this week many Mets fans wonder will it make the team a contender. Even though Carlos Beltran is a force in the batting order, and a gem in the field, he’s not enough to bring this team to the postseason alone. The Mets need a more solid and consistent starter. There is enough in this batting order with and without Beltran, and to be honest Angel Pagan might be a better choice. Pagan is younger, shows he has just as much range in the field, and also despite his lack of power compared to Beltran, Pagan has pop. Pagan has also proven that he’s consistent in defense and has just as strong an arm as Beltran. This is not to say Beltran coming back is great and that his presence won’t help but it’s not enough to push the Mets into the postseason. With Beltran’s return fans have to understand it’s going to take a few weeks for him to get back to normal, and that’s only if his comeback is quick, if he gets to a slow start this season his return might actually hurt the Mets more than help.

The Mets are at a point where they have four starting outfielders which is a good problem to have but still a problem none the less. Jason Bay is getting paid too much to ride the bench, and just when Jeff Francoeur is getting hot is it an option to leave him in the dugout? Angel Pagan is arguable the Mets first half MVP so leaving him out can’t be a real option and to bring the most important variable into the equation, because Beltran wants to win so bad, and because he’s getting paid so much, will leaving him out make him upset the strong team chemistry that the Mets haven’t had in years? To give Carlos credit he is a team player, also he’s a fighter who plays 100% through pain. So there is no questioning his character as a good guy but he came to the Mets in hope of a World Series ring, and there is very little doubt that he’s still hungry for that ring. That being said, why wouldn’t he spread a bad vibe for being benched if that was to happen. His presence right now where he’s being rushed to come back is very dangerous because as said before this could help or hurt the Mets and that hit might be enough to throw off their season. Despite all this Beltran talk, at the end of the day baseball is a pitchers game. Johan Santana, Mike Pelfrey, Jonathan Niese and R.A Dickey seem to be enough as 1-2-4-5, but what’s missing is a 3^rd starter to come out every outing and show just as strong an effort as Santana and Pelfrey.

This is what’s stopping the Mets from being a serious postseason contender, not the lack of Jason Bay’s offense, nor the Mets missing Carlos Beltran in the beginning of the season. The best option is without a doubt Roy Oswalt, and the best trade option with conventional wisdom will be Nick Evans and another top prospect (not Jenrry Mejia). Oswalt so far this season has only 6 wins and 10 losses, but even on a horrible team he’s spotting a 3.08 ERA with opposing batters hitting only .213. Oswalt wouldn’t cost much since he’s looking for a trade with a contending team, but he does have a contract through next year worth 16 million with an option through 2012.

The other option might be to go after former All-Star starter Dan Haren of the Arizona Diamondbacks, who’s having an offseason so far. His ERA is 4.60 but to his credit his team isn’t that good. Haren is also allowing a .287 batting average to opposing hitters, which is more than what he usually averages. Last season Haren was only allowing opposing hitters to hit .224 which can tell you how much his season is off. None the less both will be a step up from Oliver Perez, John Maine, and Hisanori Takahashi.

  On another note, a big key toward making it to the postseason for the Mets is to get Jason Bay back on track. This is a man who hit 36 home runs last season and drove in 119 RBI’s, so there are no excuses, including being a “streaky player”. Bay has shown some glimpses of the good and old Bay coming back but to be honest if we wanted a player that just hit line drives and hard outs we could have gone after someone else. And yes you can blame some of it on Citi Field since it is such a big ballpark, because even though his homers are down his triples are up and his RBI’s seem normal, but Bay hasn’t shown pop on the road in home run ballparks which is disturbing. There is a silver lining; Bay’s presence has shown to be a plus in terms of team chemistry. Also Bay’s presence in the batting order seems to be giving David Wright some protection allowing him to get more fast balls to crush. Wright already has hit four more home runs than he did all last season which shows something’s different.

There is hope for this team, no doubt about it, with another strong pitcher on the starting rotation the Mets will be the “beasts of the east”. They have defense, offense, youth, and a good rotation including Takahashi who may not be consistent as a starter but great as a long reliever. Also with the addition of Carlos Beltran the Mets do have what it takes, only if Carlos comes back with the same hunger of a World Series ring he had in 2006.

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