Carlos Beltran of the Mets your excellence has not gone unnoticed

Earlier this week I asked the question, when will NY Mets fans appreciate Carlos Beltran? Beltran is one of a select few true five-tool players. The Mets have truly been blessed to have Beltran ply his craft in a cavernous center field at Shea Stadium. However, it's unfortunate that many Mets fans can't get past Beltran striking-out to end the 2006 NLCS.

To lend just a bit more credence, have a look at Beltran's accomplishments.

• American League Rookie of the Year (Kansas City Royals, 1999)
• American League Player of the Month (Kansas City Royals, April 2004)
• Tied single postseason record for home runs (Astros-8)
• Won NL Gold Glove (New York Mets, 2006-2008)
• Won NL Silver Slugger (New York Mets, 2006-2007)
• Mets single season record holder for runs scored (127) ahead of Edgardo Alfonzo and current teammate José Reyes.
• Mets single season record holder for home runs (41) tied with Todd Hundley.
• 4-time All-Star (2004-2007)
• 1,000th Run scored (Aug. 12, 2008)
• Highest stolen base percentage in MLB (Min of 250 attempts)

First there was Peter Gammons letting the Mets faithful know how good they have it and now Ted Berg.

Here's columnist for SNY, Ted Berg's take...Carlos Beltran is still really, really good at base ball.

Here's an excerpt from his article:

My favorite esoteric Beltran stat I've noticed this offseason, though, is one that merely supports something many Mets fans already knew. According to The Hardball Times, Beltran made 111 plays out of the center fielder's fielding zone in 2008, the most out-of-zone plays anyone has made since THT started keeping stats in 2004. Anyone watching Mets games could have told you that, though: Beltran, flanked for much of the season by infielders playing out of position, pretty clearly decided he'd be handling every fly he could get to, even if it was far beyond the normal realm of the center fielder. Put me down for thinking that's awesome. What a beautiful player.

Check out the rest of Ted's article here.