After last season, I didn’t think the Mets could get any worse. In this case, worse means a few things. Worse in terms of record. Worse in terms of injuries. Worse in terms of morale. Worse in terms of roster. This offseason is really starting to make me doubt me initial prediction.

First off, the Mets have made one major move this winter, which is signing Jason Bay. They have not upgraded their pitching, which is very bad on paper. It seems like the organization is just banking that their roster will not be as injury-plagued as last season.

Well, here’s the twist. All-Star CF Carlos Beltran is injured. Again. Not only that, but there is an unsettling issue around the Beltran’s decision to have surgery this week.

Instead of having surgery earlier in the offseason and to the dismay of the ballclub, Beltran refused to have an extra opinion and decided to have surgery on his troublesome right knee, requiring him to miss the start of the season. Of course, this really peeved the organization, the fans, and mostly likely the other Mets players.

The Mets may file a grievance with the commissioner’s office on Beltran not following the team’s orders, which just sounds like a wonderful morale booster for the 70-92 Mets. Looks like it could be a gruesome first few months without Beltran in the lineup.

Granted, the offseason is not yet over. So the Mets could redeem themselves. But the best pitching free agent is Joel Pineiro and there aren’t many more position players available. Here’s a good joke, and by joke I mean not joke. My dad told me that Mets fans called into WFAN in NY hoping to pick up Rick Ankiel to play centerfield for them. Yeah, that oughta help…

No matter how you look at it, the Metsies are not off to a very good start in 2010.