Carlos Beltran is one of the top free agents remaining (#4 among unsigned free agents on MLBTR's top 50 list). He hit .300/.385/.525 with 22 homers for the Mets and Giants this past season and won't cost a draft pick, so teams looking for a capable outfield bat have taken note. The 34-year-old switch-hitter won't come cheap, however. Here's the latest on Beltran:
- The Cardinals, who maintain strong interest, could play Beltran in right field while using him in center on occasion and asking him to DH during interleague play, according to Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports (Twitter links).
- The Blue Jays, another interested club, could use Beltran as more of a DH, Rosenthal notes. They could also ask him to play left field.
- It appears that Beltran will sign for $12-12.5MM per season on a two or three-year deal, Rosenthal notes.
- Agent Dan Lozano seeks a three-year deal for Beltran, according to Yahoo's Jeff Passan.
the only problem with that is they will have to trade someone
Switch hitter with .370 wOBA hitting behind Jose Bautista will be a big upgrade of the batting order. This will be a very smart pickup.
Cards are bit like Rays when hunting down vets with high wOBAs
But you can never have enough pitching…I would balk at that price too, especially since you don’t really know if that will become an albatross on your books. Beltran was healthy last year, but the past few seasons before that—he was injury prone. Dan Lozano will be lucky to get $10M for Beltran per year for three.
You need a good amount of offense, too. Both World Series teams this year made it on the strength of their league-leading offenses.