When the New York baseball season is over, as it is for the Mets and Yankees, wild rumors are bound to happen.

Such is the case as you, I’m sure, have already heard or read involving Carlos Beltran. I have been writing since the end of the season that David Wright simply cannot be traded. Mind you I never thought he would be. I just wanted to voice my opinion in contrast with the talking heads on sports talk radio that actually think that it’s a good idea. The same goes for Jose Reyes. No way should the Mets trade him either.

The rumor involving Carlos Beltran to the Yankees for Robinson Cano, Ian Kennedy, and others is simply ridiculous. I have not come to Beltran’s defense as much as I have Wright’s or Reyes’s. That’s simply because Wright was the most mentioned core player by some writers and talk show hosts that the Mets should trade.

Like Wright and Reyes, I do not believe the Mets should trade Beltran either. Carlos is the best all around center fielder in baseball. Who is currently better at the position today? And if traded, how would the Mets replace his production of 25 plus homeruns and 100 plus RBI? Also, where would they get the defensive player required to roam Citi Field’s outfield the way Beltran roamed Shea’s? Plus, Beltran did a wonderful job helping Daniel Murphy and Nick Evans learn to play left field.

Yes, the Mets need a second baseman but wouldn’t it be easier for them to sign an Orlando Hudson as long as they can figure out what to do with incumbent Luis Castillo? Trading for Cano would not solve the issue of what to do with Castillo. The Mets would have a very good second baseman in Cano but would need to find a center fielder. From the Yankee perspective, if they obtained Beltran, then they could sign Hudson to take Cano’s place. Well wouldn’t it make sense for the Mets to attempt to sign Hudson and keep Beltran? Why in the world would the Mets want to help the Yankees get better? It really does not make a lot of sense.

The number one reason why this trade would never happen, however, is simply because of image. Can you imagine what the Mets fan base would do if Beltran went to the Yankees and had an MVP season? The Mets brass would never hear the end of it. The same argument can also be made for the Yankees trading Robinson Cano. The last thing the Yankees would want is for Cano to be a perennial all star wearing a Mets uniform.

I’m not saying the Mets would not consider trading Carlos Beltran, especially over Wright and Reyes. Beltran is going to be 32 years old and as good as he is, the Mets could get a lot of talent for him. But the Mets would never trade Beltran to the Yankees. Not unless the talent coming back was absolutely overwhelming and included lots of young pitchers. That is something Brian Cashman is very unlikely to do. If Cashman was so unwilling to trade his young pitchers for Johan Santana, it’s extremely unlikely he would do so for Beltran.