Headlines

  • Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib
  • Jay Bruce Announces Retirement
  • Nationals Place Stephen Strasburg On Injured List, Select Paolo Espino
  • Cody Bellinger Has Hairline Fracture In Left Leg
  • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings
  • MLB To Experiment With New DH Rule, Mound Distance During 2021 Atlantic League Season
  • Previous
  • Next
Register
Login
  • Hoops Rumors
  • Pro Football Rumors
  • Pro Hockey Rumors

MLB Trade Rumors

  • Home
  • Teams
    • AL East
      • Baltimore Orioles
      • Boston Red Sox
      • New York Yankees
      • Tampa Bay Rays
      • Toronto Blue Jays
    • AL Central
      • Chicago White Sox
      • Cleveland Indians
      • Detroit Tigers
      • Kansas City Royals
      • Minnesota Twins
    • AL West
      • Houston Astros
      • Los Angeles Angels
      • Oakland Athletics
      • Seattle Mariners
      • Texas Rangers
    • NL East
      • Atlanta Braves
      • Miami Marlins
      • New York Mets
      • Philadelphia Phillies
      • Washington Nationals
    • NL Central
      • Chicago Cubs
      • Cincinnati Reds
      • Milwaukee Brewers
      • Pittsburgh Pirates
      • St. Louis Cardinals
    • NL West
      • Arizona Diamondbacks
      • Colorado Rockies
      • Los Angeles Dodgers
      • San Diego Padres
      • San Francisco Giants
  • About
    • MLB Trade Rumors
    • Tim Dierkes
    • Writing team
    • Advertise
    • Archives
  • Contact
  • Tools
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • Last 100 Comments
  • NBA/NFL/NHL
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors
  • App
  • Chats
Go To Pro Hockey Rumors
Go To Hoops Rumors

Make Or Break Year: Carlos Beltran

By Ben Nicholson-Smith | March 4, 2011 at 2:15pm CDT

This time the stakes are lower. When Carlos Beltran hit free agency after the 2004 season, he was in his prime, on the verge of a huge free agent deal. Beltran responded to the pressure with 38 regular season homers and eight more in the playoffs, tying Barry Bonds' postseason record and setting himself up for his current $119MM deal. 

Short of a Bonds-esque late-career breakthrough, Beltran won't come close to approaching his current contract when he hits free agency after the coming season. The market for 34-year-old corner outfielders with knee problems is not strong unless they're coming off of big seasons.

Beltran

2010 was not a big year for Beltran, who underwent a right knee operation in January and didn't return to the majors until July. He seemed healthy in September, when he posted a .967 OPS, but the sample size is small, so we can't be confident that Beltran can hit the way he did earlier in his career.

Despite his injuries, Beltran has hit .295/.384/.470 with 17 home runs in his last 612 plate appearances. If he stays healthy in 2011 and posts numbers like that, he and agent Scott Boras could ask for a multiyear deal next winter. Boras says Beltran can play center field or right, though clubs could be reluctant to put a 34-year-old with questionable knees in center, so it's not clear that Beltran's history as a Gold Glove center fielder will help him on the market.

If Beltran struggles again, he'll be in line for a one-year, incentive-based contract, which is nothing compared to his current deal. He can do better than a make-good contract if he puts together a big year in 2011, but it's hardly the same as in 2004, when his team's pennant hopes were on the line and the potential for a mega-deal existed.

Photo courtesy Icon SMI.

Share 0 Retweet 8 Send via email0

Carlos Beltran Make Or Break Year New York Mets

Two Carl Crawford Deals That Could Have Been
Main
Jack Of All Trades: Non-Roster Invitees
View Comments (4)
newest oldest

Comments

  1. twenty1thirteen

    10 years ago

    Any plans to do a make it or break it year on Alex Gordon? I know he isn’t approaching FA, but would be interested to see.

    Like
    Reply
  2. phoenix2042

    10 years ago

    you should do a “make or break” for the mets as a franchise.

    Like
    Reply
    • MetsEventually

      10 years ago

      lol

      Like
      Reply
  3. J Dice

    10 years ago

    Wow! Itdoesn’t take long for Beltran to get over the hill. It just seems like yesterday that he running into the center-field wall in KC stealing home runs.

    Like
    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Please login to leave a reply.
Log in Register

ad: 300x250_1_MLB

    Top Stories

    Starling Marte Suffers Fractured Rib

    Jay Bruce Announces Retirement

    Nationals Place Stephen Strasburg On Injured List, Select Paolo Espino

    Cody Bellinger Has Hairline Fracture In Left Leg

    2021-22 MLB Free Agent Power Rankings

    MLB To Experiment With New DH Rule, Mound Distance During 2021 Atlantic League Season

    Astros, Martin Maldonado Finalizing One-Year Extension

    James Paxton To Undergo Season-Ending Surgery

    2021 Trade Deadline Will Be July 30

    Diamondbacks Sign Josh Reddick To Minor League Deal

    Recent

    Why Subscribe To Trade Rumors Front Office?

    Anibal Sanchez Drawing Interest

    Athletics Designate Ka’ai Tom For Assignment

    AL Notes: Yankees, Rendon, Mondesi, Rays

    Commenter Mute Button Now Available

    Twins To Resume Play Tuesday

    MLBTR Poll: Boston’s Hot Start

    Mariners To Activate Kyle Lewis On Tuesday

    Phillies Place 3 On Injured List

    Giants Select Trevor Gott

    Latest Rumors & News

    Latest Rumors & News

    • Kris Bryant Rumors
    • Francisco Lindor Rumors
    Trade Rumors App for iOS and Android

    MLBTR Features

    MLBTR Features

    • Go Ad-Free
    • How To Set Up Notifications For Breaking News
    • 2020-21 Top 50 MLB Free Agents With Predictions
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent Tracker
    • 2020-21 MLB Free Agent List
    • 2021-22 MLB Free Agent List
    • Projected Arbitration Salaries For 2021
    • 2021 MLB Arbitration Tracker
    • Transaction Tracker
    • Extension Tracker
    • Agency Database
    • MLBTR On Twitter
    • MLBTR On Facebook
    • Team Facebook Pages
    • Hoops Rumors
    • Pro Football Rumors
    • Pro Hockey Rumors

    Rumors By Team

    • Angels Rumors
    • Astros Rumors
    • Athletics Rumors
    • Blue Jays Rumors
    • Braves Rumors
    • Brewers Rumors
    • Cardinals Rumors
    • Cubs Rumors
    • Diamondbacks Rumors
    • Dodgers Rumors
    • Giants Rumors
    • Indians Rumors
    • Mariners Rumors
    • Marlins Rumors
    • Mets Rumors
    • Nationals Rumors
    • Orioles Rumors
    • Padres Rumors
    • Phillies Rumors
    • Pirates Rumors
    • Rangers Rumors
    • Rays Rumors
    • Red Sox Rumors
    • Reds Rumors
    • Rockies Rumors
    • Royals Rumors
    • Tigers Rumors
    • Twins Rumors
    • White Sox Rumors
    • Yankees Rumors

    ad: 160x600_MLB

    Navigation

    • Sitemap
    • Archives
    • Feeds by Team

    MLBTR INFO

    • Advertise
    • About
    • Commenting Policy
    • Privacy Policy

    Connect

    • Contact Us
    • Twitter
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed

    MLB Trade Rumors is not affiliated with Major League Baseball, MLB or MLB.com

    hide arrowsFOX Sports Engage Network scroll to top
    Close

    Desktop Version | Switch To Mobile Version