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And once it was clear Wright was the only one standing, given the context of every other player suffering some kind of injury-based indignity, it was a matter of time until Wright, too, went down in spectacular fashion. This was certain, if not from a baseball standpoint, then certainly from a literary standpoint.

But for the Mets, there has been a certain limit to the misery. Despite all the ridiculous mini-tragedies to befall this team, whether injuries or bizarre ways to lose baseball games, the ramifications have been limited to 2009.

2010 offers a fresh start for the Mets, a season that can begin with the team's star players returned to full health. Games lost by dropped pop-ups, failure to touch third base, and forcing in go-ahead runs in a variety of ways won't count in the 2010 standings.

So while taking steps like disabling David Wright for 15 days and starting Bobby Parnell are forward-thinking moves, the Mets still don't seem fully able to embrace the 2010 mindset.

I'm speaking, primarily, about Carlos Beltran, but about others as well. Still, let's start with Beltran. The limitation I have is lacking full medical information.

However, based upon what we have heard, Beltran has a bone bruise in his knee, one that can be improved by rest. And fortunately for the Mets, they can rest him right into next spring without doing any damage to realistic pennant hopes.

Yet there is Beltran, taking fly balls, working inexorably toward a return. The Mets are taking it slowly with Billy Wagner and Carlos Delgado, neither one a likely 2009 contributor, but Beltran is out there?

Note the language on David Wright by Omar Minaya: "David wanted to try and give it a chance, and go out there and play -- but, we decided to take it away from David. He really wanted to try and play, but based upon our doctors and specialist recommendations we said no ... He tried to fight me, he said, 'Come on, man, give me a chance,' he definitely wants to be here, but he understood."

Now, I understand the Mets feel differently about a concussion than a bone bruise, primarily because they had tremendous media backlash and complications from Ryan Church's concussion last year. But is it really necessary for the Mets to suffer a debilitating, easily-preventable setback to a key player before they make the reasonable subsequent choice?

Beltran, and to a lesser extent Jose Reyes, have been rehabbing long past the point that makes any sense for the organization. The only possible reason the Mets could have to bring either player back in 2009 would be to showcase them for a trade, and trading either of them at this point, even with their value at an all-time low, would be a mistake of Seaverian/Kazmirian proportions. Maybe even worse.

While the Mets are at it, could they perhaps save Francisco Rodriguez's arm for 2010 as well? K-Rod has notably struggled for a good bit now, but his workload hasn't slackened a bit. As it stands now, Rodriguez is on pace to pitch more innings than he has in any of the previous four seasons.

And while an arbitrary innings limit doesn't make sense, attempting to limit the number of bullets used by the man signed for $12 million in 2010, 2011 and a $17.5 million option in 2012 certainly does. By contrast, pitching Rodriguez for an inning Friday, two innings Saturday and an inning Sunday does not make sense. (Had the Mets gone ahead and activated Wagner already, he could have pitched some of those innings.)

Another pitcher to limit over the season's final 45 games is Johan Santana. By my calculations, if he makes another nine starts, and averages the same number of innings per start, he'll wind up at around 220 innings. Again, he's never had a problem reaching that level of innings in a season. But why push him as hard as you can for the remainder of a year that simply doesn't matter?

Two other moves vital for 2010 are promotional in nature: it is time to bring Ike Davis and Josh Thole to the major leagues. While 2010 should be set at center field, third base, shortstop and second base, Jeff Francoeur likely receiving the job in right field, and no left field answer clearly in the organization, catcher and first base are the wild cards.

All Ike Davis has done throughout 2009 is hit. He's hit in the pitcher-friendly Florida State league; promoted to Double-A, he's hit even more (a .925 OPS). While Daniel Murphy has certainly improved defensively at first base, the chances that Murphy approaches Davis's upside, or even above-average offensive production at the position, are quite small.

Thole, meanwhile, is hitting .332/.401/.433 at Double-A. With Brian Schneider an unlikely 2010 option, and Omir Santos demonstrating that he came by his career .652 minor-league OPS honestly, Thole represents a clear chance to upgrade the position.

Think of the advantage to the Mets should Thole and Davis demonstrate enough promise to lock down everyday jobs at those two positions. Not only are the free agent options at both spots weak, but Thole and Davis would be cost-certain starters, giving the Mets the opportunity to spend elsewhere. With only about $20 million in cash available, this is no small help to a team that will probably need to go outside the organization for a number two starter and left fielder.

At the end of the day, Mets fans would have loved a pennant race in 2009. But by taking these steps, the organization can signal something far more important, and possible, to their fan base: they actually understand how to properly prepare for 2010.