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Terry Collins Warns Players: If Mets Trade Carlos Beltran And You Quit, Goodbye!

NEW YORK (WFAN) -- Mets manager Terry Collins has a message for his team: if Carlos Beltran is traded and you quit on 2011, you're outta here!

"You're going to hear guys say, 'The front office is giving up on us,'" Collins said on Monday. "Or 'We don't have a chance now' or 'We didn't get much for him,."

Collins is aware of the chatter in the papers and on sports talk radio, but he doesn't want the negativity creeping into his locker room.

Consider it a warning.

"We've got guys that are playing for jobs," said Collins. "The minute they give up or quit, they won't be here next year."

Apparently, starter Mike Pelfrey didn't get the memo in time.

"I understand that if you want to get something back for him you have to trade him," Pelfrey told the New York Post before the Mets' 4-2 win -- and prior to Collins' comments. "In the same sense I would think if we ended up getting rid of him, the front office's view is that we don't have a chance, because he gives us our best chance to win. If he's not here, then they felt we can't rebound from where we're at."

Beltran, who likely has played his last game as a Met at Citi Field, has been rumored to land with the Red Sox, Phillies, Giants, Braves or Rangers. Collins, a fiery old-schooler, doesn't buy into the woe-is-me talk.

The Mets are at .500, 7.5 games out of the wild card.

"The first thing that I have to do is see how they react to it," he said. "I don't want to jump to conclusions that they're not going to be able to deal with it. I want to see how they react to the situation, what the mood in the clubhouse will be, what the conversations will be about. And then have a feel for that, and if it's stuff that I don't like, or need to address, it will be addressed immediately."

Is Collins taking the right approach? Fire away in the comments below...

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