Beltran watch continues in loss

MIAMI -- The way the Mets see it, as long as they still have Carlos Beltran, there is hope. When asked to consider life without him, well, that's something his teammates would rather not think about it until they absolutely, positively have to.

"I don't want to say it would be disappointing," Jose Reyes said, "but it would be very tough. He's been a huge part of our team this year."

Unfortunately, that day is coming. The Mets already are discussing potential deals for Beltran with more than one team, a person familiar with the situation said Saturday.

Though it does not sound as if a trade is imminent, talks have heated up over the weekend, and the Mets do not seem inclined to let this drag out into the final days leading up to the July 31 non-waivers deadline.

Beltran again impressed the scouts in attendance Saturday at Sun Life Stadium by reaching base four times with three walks and a run-scoring single in the Mets' 8-5 loss to the Marlins. Beltran raised his batting average to .291 with a .913 OPS.

David Wright went 1-for-5 with a two-run double in his second game back, but he also had his second throwing error in as many days, and that allowed a run to score in the seventh inning. Gaby Sanchez slugged a pair of home runs and Logan Morrison also went deep for the Marlins.

Chris Capuano (8-10) allowed six hits and four runs in six innings for his third straight loss. He struck out five in the first three innings but gave up all four of his runs in the sixth on Omar Infante's RBI triple and homers by Sanchez and Morrison.

Lucas Duda, pinch hitting in the ninth, hit his first major-league home run and Reyes followed with his fourth homer, but the Mets' rally fell short as they dropped to 50-50 after 100 games.

Beltran said this past week that he prefers to stay in the National League, which gives the Phillies, Braves and Giants an edge. But if the Mets pitched him an AL club, such as the Rangers or Red Sox, he said that wouldn't necessarily be a deal-breaker.

At the moment, the trade scenarios involve only Beltran leaving, but they could be expanded to include others in the clubhouse. Losing Beltran, however, is plenty. The season won't end when the six-time All-Star is traded, it will only feel that way, and the challenge for manager Terry Collins will be to keep the rest of his team together in the wake of that gloomy development.

"Of course we'll miss him, especially with the kind of season he's having," Angel Pagan said. "But we still have a job to do and you've got to play with what you have. As a professional, you have to move on."

That type of attitude from his clubhouse is the best that Collins can wish for in a post-Beltran era. It's a strange time for the Mets. With Beltran inching his way toward the exit, the team welcomed back Wright on Friday and they had a visit from Johan Santana, who plans to throw a side session Sunday to determine if he's ready for a minor-league start this week.

After roughly 10 minutes answering questions about his comeback, Santana was asked to contemplate returning in late August or early September with Beltran playing elsewhere.

"It's going to be tough," Santana said. "He's a great player, a great guy. Unfortunately, this is the nature of this game. There's things you can't control and this is one of them. Right now, we've got to do our best to keep competing, and if he has to go someplace else, just wish him all the best and that's about it."

Earlier this season, Reyes was fielding the same questions about himself. But general manager Sandy Alderson apparently put a stop to that two weeks ago by saying it is "very unlikely" that Reyes will be traded. When it was brought up to the shortstop that he now is sticking around and Beltran is the player on the move, Reyes laughed.

"This is baseball. You never know what's going to happen," Reyes said. "We'll see."