Will Beltran finally fulfill destiny?

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla.

Saul Katz, the quiet Mets owner who has gained undesired notoriety this past month, stood behind the batting cage on a back field here at Digital Domain Park, watching batting practice. To his right stood Paul DePodesta, Jeff Wilpon and Carlos Beltran.

If you're looking for symbols of the organization's past, present and future randomly positioned alongside one another, good luck finding a better collection than that quartet.

And if you're searching for just one person to represent this 2011 Mets club, its hopes and aspirations and demons - all of its darkest fears and everything it's capable of, to steal a line from season-ticket holder Jerry Seinfeld's eponymous sitcom - try Beltran.

If these Mets want to defy the long odds and qualify for the playoffs, they need upside performances from a nice number of players, starting with Beltran.

And they also must collectively move past all of the hurt (both physical and emotional) that has accrued over the prior four seasons and still hovers, both on and off the field. Beltran belongs in the middle of that conversation, too.

"You have to focus on the positive," Beltran said yesterday, following the Mets' workout. "Why focus on the negative? Me, I'm a very positive man. I try to stay positive. I will die thinking positive."

Beltran accepted a seven-year, $119-million contract offer from Omar Minaya and the Wilpons and quickly declared the dawn of "the new Mets." Remember that? It seems quaint now.

One playoff appearance, two final-day failures and two operations later, the soon-to-be 34-year-old prepares to complete that contractual commitment, his future as unclear as those of the people who write his paychecks.

He moves gingerly around camp, a brace still adorning his right knee, and he'll start the Grapefruit League schedule as a designated hitter. From the way he speaks now about wanting to play for years to come, it's apparent he's willing to switch to rightfield and let Angel Pagan play centerfield.

And while he's about as likely to be a 2012 Met as is Anna Benson, Beltran vowed that he would not hold onto old grudges. He often appeared unhappy last year, upon returning from the disabled list after the All-Star break. However, he expressed enthusiasm about new manager Terry Collins and even exchanged some small talk with Wilpon.

"To me, I'm fine with that," Beltran said. "We had our issues before, but that's in the past."

The Mets went ballistic when Beltran underwent knee surgery in January 2010 without the Mets' express permission, yet everyone knew that Beltran held the moral high ground because of 1) the way he had played through pain during the 2009 season and 2) the Mets' general ineptitude. The controversy widened the rift between Beltran and ownership.

Now, though, Beltran insists he takes no joy in the misfortune of the Wilpons and Saul Katz.

"I haven't read about it, but I talked to Fred [Wilpon]," Beltran said. "He said to me that he's going through a difficult time right now. I personally wish him all the best. You don't want to see anyone go through that situation they're going through. So I hope they can fix that up."

That's a tall task, although fixing up himself might not prove much easier. Beltran worked with a personal trainer for about five weeks in his native Puerto Rico, yet his slow ease into spring training doesn't bode well.

We'll see. We'll see whether post-surgery bounces occur for Beltran as well as Chris Young, Chris Capuano and Jason Isringhausen, the buy-low propositions engineered by DePodesta, his boss Sandy Alderson and his fellow new lieutenant J.P. Ricciardi. Whether the Mets can ignore the noise generated by Irving Picard's lawsuit targeting the Wilpons and Katz.

"The only thing we need to do is stick together and stay healthy as a team," Beltran said, and if he leads that charge . . . well, "new Mets" is still a stretch. How about lowering the bar and shooting for "better Mets"?