The Mets are sending "strong signals" that they'd like to trade Carlos Beltran this winter, an AL official tells Ken Davidoff of Newsday. Davidoff acknowledges that the Mets often seem to want to unload big contracts, but rarely follow through. However, Beltran, as opposed to Luis Castillo or Oliver Perez, is a player that other teams would have interest in. Here are Davidoff's other hot stove notes:
- The Royals have Zack Greinke signed through 2012, but aren't sure whether they'll be competitive by then, so they'd be willing to listen to offers on their ace. Davidoff lists the Yankees, Rangers, Tigers, and Nationals as teams who might be interested.
- Hisanori Takahashi is eligible for free agency this winter and would like to be a starting pitcher. One AL scout is skeptical: "Who’s going to sign him to start? Maybe a bad team, at the back end of their rotation. He’d be better off staying in the bullpen. He’s really good there."
- Davidoff wonders if new Dodgers manager Don Mattingly will be more willing to deal with Matt Kemp than Joe Torre was. A scout compares Kemp to Alfonso Soriano, suggesting that both players lack baseball instincts and struggle to improve their games.
Ok, so who gets more? The Royals for Greinke or Cliff Lee in his new contract. I’d personally rather have Greinke by a country mile.
Greinke costs players, Lee costs dollars, there is a big difference.
Of course the Yankees want Greinke. They’re a free-spending team. If there’s an elite FA on the market, they’ll sign him, then make the necessary moves to make room for him after the fact. They already have a great rotation of CC, AJ, Javy, Petitte, Hughes, but of course they want more. They’ll sign Lee, then worry about trying to trade Javy or AJ.
Rant from a Sox Fan
*They’ll sign or or trade for Greinke, then worry about trying to trade Javy or AJ.
Stop whining I’m pretty sure the Red Sox have the second highest payroll in baseball. Just because the Red Sox can’t win that division doesn’t mean you have to complain about something both Boston and New York are known for. I’m pretty sure that the Red Sox signed the biggest free agent pitcher last year in John Lackey, and I have nothing against that either. So don’t rip the Yankees for doing what there allowed to do, rip MLB for allowing it without a salary cap (which would hurt the Red Sox almost as bad as the Yanks)
If the division thing is based on this year it’s pretty much a a point not worth making because the Sox have had so many injuries. If the Sox had been healthy all year long they very well may have won the division this year.
And the Sox do have the second highest payroll in the MLB but the Yankees payroll was $46 million higher than the Red Sox payroll was at the beginning of the season and the Yankees have only added payroll with the trades they made (it wasn’t a tremendous amount but they still added more). So when people tell Red Sox fans to stop complaining about the money thing, you have to understand that the Yankees payroll is still much much higher than the Red Sox payroll is.
the rays have like 1/10th the pay roll of the yankees and red sox and they are in 1st right now right? i know for a fact they are like 6-7 games ahead of the bosox..so lets chill here boys
How are you going to trade Javy when he’s a FA after this year?
That must be some new Yankee trick they’re going to try right?
javy will 99% be non tendered..aj wil bounce back, he does this all the time…petitte will more than likely retire, he will for sure if they win again
Beltran on the trade market would be really interesting. Obviously he’s been injured for much of the last two years, but prior to that, when healthy, he was certainly one of baseball’s best players. If the Mets were mainly just looking for a team to eat money to sign him, rather than trade top-prospects, I can see a lot of teams showing big interest, especially with Jayson Werth as the only real impact outfielder (not including guys like Adam Dunn, that aren’t already outfielders) available through free agency.
I don’t know, a guy who looks like he’s washed up and he making $18.5 million next year before hitting free agency doesn’t appear to have much trade value. Now if the Mets pay 70% of that and accept a B level prospect in return, then sure, lots of interest.
ha thats the exact type of guy kenny williams would go after…see rios last year…beltran as a whitesox would be awesome!
I don’t know, a guy who looks like he’s washed up and he making $18.5 million next year before hitting free agency doesn’t appear to have much trade value. Now if the Mets pay 70% of that and accept a B level prospect in return, then sure, lots of interest.
I disagree.
If you’re a GM of a playoff contender are you going to go into the season trusting Beltran as one of your 3 OFs while paying him 10m+? That’s not a good allocation of resources.
Well, yeah, for one I’m assuming the Mets would have to be willing to eat half of that money. But a chance to get a hitter that until 2 years ago was consistently one of the top-10 or so hitters in baseball, that’s a risk that a lot of GMs would be interested in taking. If money is just the cost, a lot of GMs will be interested in spending it. Ben Sheets got, what, $8M to be a health risk in Oakland, based almost purely on upside?
Well, yeah, for one I’m assuming the Mets would have to be willing to eat half of that money. But a chance to get a hitter that until 2 years ago was consistently one of the top-10 or so hitters in baseball, that’s a risk that a lot of GMs would be interested in taking. If money is just the cost, a lot of GMs will be interested in spending it. Ben Sheets got, what, $8M to be a health risk in Oakland, based almost purely on upside?
So the Royals aren’t sure they’ll be competitive (probably an understatement) and therefore may be willing to trade their ace.
If they trade their ace (and don’t somehow come out way ahead in the trade), they will for sure not be competitive.
So the Royals aren’t sure they’ll be competitive (probably an understatement) and therefore may be willing to trade their ace.
If they trade their ace (and don’t somehow come out way ahead in the trade), they will for sure not be competitive.
Wait, an AL guy said that about Beltran? Huh?
Yankees live off free agnecy. I can’t wait till they get Carl Crawford and move Brett Gardner to the bench.
They aren’t going to. Did you see Jeff Passan’s article on Yahoo? Gardner has the best in-the-zone contact rate of anybody in the majors. He is also a very patient hitter. I see the Angels getting Crawford.
4th in 2 strike pitches fouled off, sees more pitches than any other batter in the AL at 4.8 pitches I think, and has a 93% contact rate with 2 strike pitches. I think it would be farfetched to mave Gardy to the bench when he’s the Yanks true leadoff hitter.
4th in 2 strike pitches fouled off, sees more pitches than any other batter in the AL at 4.8 pitches I think, and has a 93% contact rate with 2 strike pitches. I think it would be farfetched to mave Gardy to the bench when he’s the Yanks true leadoff hitter.
They aren’t going to. Did you see Jeff Passan’s article on Yahoo? Gardner has the best in-the-zone contact rate of anybody in the majors. He is also a very patient hitter. I see the Angels getting Crawford.
Gardner to the bench? They’d be better off to trade him. I mean, I hate The Yankees, but that guy has skill.
Yankees live off free agnecy. I can’t wait till they get Carl Crawford and move Brett Gardner to the bench.
I wouldn’t mind seeing the Braves take on Beltran IF AND ONLY IF the Mets eat most of the money owed and are aren’t looking for a top tier prospect. I am not an overly big fan of Beltran’s health issues over the last several years but for the right price it would be worth the risk. Of course for the right price any team will make the move.
The Mets would never trade Beltran within the division. Especially not to a team they were chasing. This isn’t the Church/FCore trade (where two players are really inconsequential). We’re talking about a) a player that’s owed $18M and b) a player that, when healthy, is one of the best in the game. Granted, he’s been injured but since his come back his numbers have steadily risen.
Personally, as a Met fan, I’d like to see the Mets keep Beltran. He won’t regress next year; he’ll be, at worse, average. If he can regain his old form he can only help the team. If the Mets are out of it come July they can trade him to a contender and, if they’re not, they can hold on to him and he’ll be a Type A/B FA at the end of next year.
Plus, as a contract year, he’ll be playing as best he can.
well said. it’s highly unlikely the mets would get any decent return for beltran this offseason. they might as well ride his contract out, see what he can give them in his walk year, then take the picks when he leaves in free agency. plus, he’s only going to be 34 next year – i find it very hard to believe he’s “washed up” when this is the only season besides 2005 that he hasn’t been one of the top hitters in the league. has anyone looked at his stats just before his knee injury last year? i know his knees are somewhat of a question mark but i’m fairly confident he’ll have a bounce back year after a whole off-season to recover. in any case, he’s certainly not all of a sudden a 4th outfielder. but to sum up my rant, i don’t think it’s smart to trade him while his stock is at an all-time low.
well said. it’s highly unlikely the mets would get any decent return for beltran this offseason. they might as well ride his contract out, see what he can give them in his walk year, then take the picks when he leaves in free agency. plus, he’s only going to be 34 next year – i find it very hard to believe he’s “washed up” when this is the only season besides 2005 that he hasn’t been one of the top hitters in the league. has anyone looked at his stats just before his knee injury last year? i know his knees are somewhat of a question mark but i’m fairly confident he’ll have a bounce back year after a whole off-season to recover. in any case, he’s certainly not all of a sudden a 4th outfielder. but to sum up my rant, i don’t think it’s smart to trade him while his stock is at an all-time low.
greinke to the tigers !!
** just a side note 100th comment
never…as a whitesox fan a few things i doubt the tigers have the prospects to get zack, and there is no way the royals would trade him in division unless the tigers had like 5 consensus top 10 prospects
Greinke almost went to the tigers at the trade deadline and you are very incorrect about the tigers farm system–they are loaded with type a prospects. Not only the prospects, the tigers have ludicrous amounts of money falling off the books for free agents and high salary trades. Don’t be surprised if greinke is in Motown next year
greinke to the tigers !!
** just a side note 100th comment
didn’t Harold Reynolds on MLB Network say that the Royals would never trade Greinke because of his social disorder? He said that the Royals GM loves Greinke and feels bad for him so he’s going to keep him there as long as possible
I would keep him at KC. His Social disorder is a very serious thing to deal with and staying in a small market team would greatly help. If he went to a big market team the media would eat him up, chew him out, spit him out, and let the vultures finish the remains. He stays in KC.
Very valid point — except that the media actually ARE the vultures!
He’s a fan favorite, he’s still good, the Royals don’t have that many big contracts, they have lots of young pitching coming up, having a young veteran around is a good idea. Yeah, they probably aren’t going to contend, but someone has to pitch their games. Unless you want no one to show up at the park to watch you, ever, you have to give the fans something to see.
The Royals stuck with Zach; Zach did the hard work to make it back to the mound. I would think long and hard if I were the Royals and if I were Zach before I sever that relationship.
I think he might have already made up his mind about what he’s going to do; testing the free agent market. He is married now too, that can change things for him.
He made some pretty telling comments recently about how he does not want to rebuild again. If he forces a trade, not sure that he is the type to do that, he will certainly command a lot of return.
Greinke is a bonafide ace under team control for two years at a very reasonable rate. Plus he is young. As a Tigers fan I would love for him to join the team but I am not so sure the Tigers have the chips to offer. I do know that Verlander, Scherzer, and Greinke (while all righties) would not be fun to face in a short series.
didn’t Harold Reynolds on MLB Network say that the Royals would never trade Greinke because of his social disorder? He said that the Royals GM loves Greinke and feels bad for him so he’s going to keep him there as long as possible
Greinke for Kemp!
Probably doesn’t make sense considering Kemp is also going to be a free agent after 2012, but the Royals are probably the closest thing Kemp has to a home team (from Oklahoma). Maybe something could be worked out…