"These clearly are the last days for Carlos Beltran in a Mets' uniform, so there was little concern for him as he stood behind the batting cage Tuesday afternoon, casually chatting with chief operating officer Jeff Wilpon.

The two had been at odds last year, but as Beltran prepares for his departure, there is no animosity, no hard feelings. While team officials insisted that Wilpon's arrival in Ohio was just to watch a game, it seemed hard to imagine he would fly into a town that's hardly a vacation destination for the wealthy.

Beltran said they chatted about hitting, but if Wilpon's presence was another sign that the final machinations for a trade are falling into place - with the details of a no-trade clause still to be ironed out when the Mets decide on a trading partner - Beltran remained as calm as he has been throughout the season.

Beltran talked to Wilpon, took his swings, then took the field, helping the Mets again with a hit, three runs and an RBI in an 8-6 win over the Reds.

While the Giants, Braves, Rangers and others vie for his services, Beltran seemed wistful as he thought back on his seven years with the Mets - a span that began with his debut in Cincinnati in 2005. But now he can look forward to what he thought he would get with the Mets - a chance to contend for a World Series title.

"If I look at it that way, yeah, it's exciting," Beltran said. "But at the same time, you know, it's a little bit sad because I have a lot of friends on this team. I've been here seven years, so it's hard just to turn the page and just let go seven years like that. You have a lot of memories, a lot of guys that you get along well with and now the younger guys that you started to get along with.

"At the same time you've got to move on. They're going to move on. I'm going to move on. Everyone is going to move on with this."

The Mets seem to want to, but with a handful of teams in the mix for Beltran's services, general manager Sandy Alderson has reason to play this out as long as he can, hoping to get one desperate GM to ante up an elite prospect. While a Mets' official insisted they haven't changed their asking price, a National League team official again dismissed the notion that the Mets could land one of the top prospects from another club for Beltran's two-month rental.

If the day-by-day monotony was wearing on Beltran and the team, it didn't show. He said he has heard nothing and manager Terry Collins said he hasn't followed the rumors, which seem to reveal a different front-runner every day. Alderson said, "I don't know where some of them get their information from."

Beltran's true worth will be decided shortly as a deal is required to be done by Saturday to give him the 24-hour window to accept or decline."