Mets' Beltran and Castillo Go Against The Family

In the midst of the New York Mets kicking off their preseason slate of games in Florida, come two different and eyebrow raising stories. The first, and probably the biggest, involves Carlos Beltran. This time it's not about surgery, but it is about his injuries. By now it is common knowledge to the Mets fan, that federal investigators questioned Jose Reyes over the past weekend.

These questions were centered around his visits to a Dr. Galea in Toronto. Dr. Galea is under investigation for treating several players of all sports with performance enhancement drugs to help in the healing of injuries. Among the long list of athletes that Galea has treated are Reyes, Tiger Woods and Dana Torres. What was not known, until yesterday, is that Beltran was the person who told them to question Reyes.

Beltran's response to the investigation was "I have nothing to worry (about), nothing to hide," Beltran said. "I just went there for an opinion for my knee."

Beltran went to Canada to treat his injuries last season and was feeling better until digressing early this off season. He is currently recuperating from late off season surgery and plans to rejoin the team at some point this season.

The worse part of this story may not be Reyes or Beltran being investigated. Believe it or not, the worst part of this story may be Beltran giving Reyes up to the feds for questioning in the first place. In the words of Don Corleone "never take sides against the family". They are teammates and have been for several years. There is a friendship built through the years that exists on the premise of trust.

I understand that it is the government, and it is an investigation of fraud and cheating, but this is still giving up a teammate. Did Beltran do the right thing here? Did he have to tell them to talk to Reyes or could he have just answered the questions and kept quiet. Is this breaking the locker room codes in some way? Only time will tell as more details are revealed, but opinions will continue to be formed all over the city until the all of the truth is told. Then we will know what should and shouldn't have been said.

On to a similarly themed story. It was also written early this week that Luis Castillo had spent the off season at home in the Dominican Republic. What he did, however, was the controversial part of the story. He trained with a fellow Dominican, named Emilio Bonifacio. Which is not an abnormality. This type of thing happens all of the time.

The trouble is Bonifacio plays not only for a team in the same league, but the same division. He is the leadoff hitter for the Florida Marlins, a division rival, who has had it out for the Mets since 2007 when they felt the Mets players were showboating too much. He is a young, explosive player with massive potential and if taken under the right wing, could be a dangerous player against division foes, like the Mets.

Perhaps, this is an innocent scenario, but what if they shared insider secrets. What if they tipped each other off to opposing pitchers and things of that nature. This may not be the case, and let's hope not, but what if it is? Players always train with those on opposing teams in all sports, but baseball is a different type of sport.

Athletes can't share too many damaging tips in most other sports. Perhaps football comes close, but baseball is all about reading pitchers and body language. I don't believe I've heard of rival players training together before this. I've heard players from other teams that aren't rivals training together, but not rivals.

Would Jerry Rice have trained with a Dallas Cowboy? No. Would Phil Simms thrown passes to Art Monk in the off season? Never. There must be respect for competition and the teammates you currently have. Is this a slight against his fellow Mets? Is this a slight for Bonifacio to his Marlins teammates? Maybe not, but this is a sure sign that the competitive fires don't burn as hot as they used to in sports. That may be a problem.