Being a New York Mets fan must become more difficult by the day (perhaps it feels like this?). The Mets have a bumbling fool for a general manager, Omar Minaya, who has consistently targeted the wrong players in free agency and is generally on the wrong side of most trades. And, even with the advantages of playing in a prosperous media market, the franchise has also now been on the outside looking in of October play for three straight seasons, two of which ended in historic collapses.

Just when it seemed that it couldn't get any worse, though, now comes this: Carlos Beltran is having his knee scoped and will likely miss the first two months of the season.

From the NY Daily News:

"After experiencing increased pain in the knee during workouts, Beltran underwent an "arthroscopic clean-out of the arthritic area," the Mets said. The team anticipates him returning to baseball activities in three months, meaning he is all but certain to miss the Mets' opener April 5 and likely longer than that. However, a baseball source suggested that Beltran's rehab could be done in as few as two months.

Some bruised feelings might take longer to heal, though. A different source close to the situation suggested the Mets did not agree with the decision to have the operation, which was not performed by Met doctors. The club also is discussing the possibility of exploring whether Beltran is in violation of his contract."

The news is just a devastating blow to a top-heavy roster that needs its star core to be healthy if they wish to have any shot at contention in a competitive division. Clearly, that didn’t happen for the 2009 version of the Mets, who were ravaged by injuries to said star core and turned in a disappointing 70-92, fourth place finish in the National League East. With the recent signing of Jason Bay and Jose Reyes and Johan Santana expected to come back strong, a lot of Mets fans have clung to the perhaps misguided belief that the team has a realistic chance of catching the defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies in the division. Or at least the Wild Card.

But the loss of Beltran is a killer. He’s their most talented position player, an elite defender in center field who offers plus offense from both sides of the plate. And replacing him is going to be a tremendous challenge, especially given the weak options available on the free agent market; Rick Ankiel is perhaps the best center fielder out there externally. They could re-sign defensive whiz Endy Chavez and go with Angel Pagan as the starter, but either way there is going to be a considerable drop off. With below-average defenders Bay and Jeff Franceour flanking whoever ends up in center on the corners, I would say that going the defensive rout would be the right strategy.

Regardless, it should be another rough baseball season in Queens. At least there won’t be another collapse, though, because that team could fall out of contention by the first week of June at this rate, even if Reyes doesn’t lose a step on the bases or at shortstop. Since I’m the glass half-full kind of person, I did find a bright side to this news. If the team tanks, maybe the Mets will finally fire Minaya, which would probably be best for all.

For some more reasonable analysis on the Mets’ predicament, check out the take of Amazin’ Avenue’s Sam Page.