It wasn’t long ago that Carlos Beltran was widely considered one of the best overall players in the league, a Hall of Fame talent who could do everything on a baseball field. But after a few somewhat disappointing seasons in the Big Apple, Beltran’s career has stalled due to a knee injury that has caused him to drop from the general consciousness of most baseball fans. Now it appears that Beltran is healthy enough to finally return to the lineup after the All-Star break, and it couldn’t come at a better time for the Mets, who trail the Braves by four games in the National League East.

When Beltran exploded in the 2004 playoffs with the Astros, he seemed to be on a one-way ticket to Cooperstown. Beltran had perhaps the best run in the history of the playoffs that year, mashing eight homers in 12 games and putting up an absurd OPS of 1.557. The five-tool centerfielder quickly parlayed his postseason success into a seven-year, $119 million contract with the New York Mets, bringing enormous excitement and expectations with him to his new club. The Mets assumed his talents would help them not only sell New York Mets tickets but help them rise to the top of the National League. With the exception of 2008, though, Beltran has been significantly slowed by injuries and all of a sudden he’s a nearly forgotten 33-year-old former superstar.

The outlook from Mets fans, as expected, has also been fairly harsh in Beltran’s New York tenure. In 2005, his first year in New York, Beltran hit a subpar .267 with a very disappointing 16 homers and 78 RBIs, which got him off to a very poor start with fans. Beltran bounced back sharply in 2006, however, racking up 41 homers and 116 RBIs while winning a Gold Glove in centerfield. But since 2006, Beltran has been on and off the field and has been largely inconsistent, though he still did drive in 100 RBIs each year from 2006 to 2008. Last season, it looked as if he was set to have his best season for the Mets before suffering a major knee injury that cost him the final 80 games of the 2009 season and the first 88 games of 2010.

But the beauty of baseball is that there are plenty of opportunities for redemption. Across town for the Yankees, no one was under more scrutiny than Alex Rodriguez in recent years for his poor performance in the playoffs. One hot playoff run and a World Series ring later, A-rod is again one of the most popular players on a star-studded roster. With the Mets playing fairly well this season, due mainly to Mike Pelfrey and David Wright, Beltran is in a great position to lead his club back to the postseason.

To help them back to the playoffs, however, Beltran has to essentially start from scratch. In his absence, Angel Pagan has not only been a good fill-in but has quickly become a fan favorite, which will place even more pressure on Beltran to produce. At the All-Star break, Pagan was leading the team in hitting (.315) and is tied for the team lead with 19 stolen bases as well. For the immediate future, it appears that Beltran will be the starter over Pagan, though manager Jerry Manuel, who is once again coaching for his job, likely won’t hesitate to bench Beltran in favor of Pagan if Beltran gets off to a slow start.

So far, Beltran has been saying all the right things to the pervasive New York media as the Mets await his return. Beltran has made it clear that his only mission is to get the Mets back to the top of the division and into the playoffs, which is the only way to appease the brutal New York fans. To get there, though, the Mets will have to catch the talented Atlanta Braves, who boast a surprisingly well-balanced and deep club, as well as hold off the Philadelphia Phillies. But if Beltran can get it going alongside recent acquisition Jason Bay, the Mets could have the talent to make a serious push at a division title. Once again, Beltran finds his career at a fork in the road, and it will be interesting to see which direction he travels.

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