11:17pm: The Cardinals, Blue Jays, Red Sox, Rays and Indians are all "seriously in the mix" for Beltran, according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com. There could be another team involved.
10:40pm: The Indians have jumped into the Carlos Beltran negotiations, according to ESPN.com's Buster Olney (on Twitter). Though GM Chris Antonetti has been on the lookout for offense this offseason, this is the first time the Indians have been publicly linked to Beltran.
Beltran has two and three-year offers and hopes to decide on a new team this week, according to Scott Miller of CBSSports.com (all Twitter links). The Blue Jays and Cardinals are among Beltran’s most aggressive suitors, Miller reports. The switch-hitter appears to be weighing a more substantial contract offer against a city he prefers. He is open to DHing on a part-time basis.
Jon Heyman of CBSSports.com reported tonight that Indians people are considering “everyone but Prince [Fielder]” as they hunt for upgrades at first base and in the outfield. The Indians now have Michael Brantley, Grady Sizemore, Shin-Soo Choo, Ezequiel Carrera, Shelley Duncan and the newly-acquired Aaron Cunningham in the outfield mix. Beltran would be a welcome addition to an offense that ranked 16th in MLB in runs scored in 2011.
so Beltran is getting more money from Toronto but prefers St. Louis? or vice versa?
exactly
…And did that come from Hillary herself?
Yes. I’m friends with Hillary, and Hillary knows Beltran’s 3rd cousin.
Congrats. From this point forward, every comment I read of yours will be read in the voice of Hillary Clinton yelling.
You wouldn’t happen to be Bill? He knows lots of people from getting around…
And the winner of Beltran is that team with endless supplies of money, known on these boards as the ‘Mystery’ team. The team needed a center fielder and Beltran fits the mould of the necessary player. Stay tuned tomorrow, when the ‘Mystery’ team comes out of nowhere to lay claim to Prince Fielder, Gio Gonzalez, Matt Garza, and a host of bullpen options to complement Darvish and Lato’s in their starting rotation. lol.
Which would you prefer? The favorite to win their division most years or the favorite to win 4th place in their division every year?
Who wants to spend that much time in St Louis? Toronto is a world class city and St Louis in the most dangerous city in America.
The same reason why players turn down the Maple Leafs to play with another team.
A chance to win.
you can’t compare hockey players to latin baseball players. most latin players want money and lifestyle. the only time they care about winning is if they have incentives in their contract or want the playoff bonuses. sad but true most of the time.
wow.
Wow posting racial generalizations under your real name, interesting choice
Somebody give that man a MacArthur award.
I guessing your not from toronto?
Who wouldn’t want to play for the best fans in baseball and who just won the ws and has a good chance to repeat, no brainer but i’m sure like every other greedy player he’ll go for the bigger salary
your homerism is showing.
there are probably a dozen fanbases that would like to argue the “best fans in baseball” comment.
then theres the “great chance to repeat” comment… the cards were an enormous surprise to win the WS this year, and they just lost one of the best players in franchise history and their 3rd starter down the stretch. granted, they’re getting wainwright back, but i wouldnt even put them in the top 5 likeliest to win next years WS. its arguable that they arent even the best team in their division.
are you aware that the cardinals just won the world series?
Have you ever been to St. Louis? There are a few rough areas, but it is much better than 15 years ago. Plus I don’t think Carlos Beltran would or any other professional athlete would wonder too far from the hotspots.
Jays are on the up and up…see them competing in the East starting this year.
Needs more pitching
I think 3 years from StL and 2 from TOR…
tough to figure.
i thought the jays would be in tough since the cards have the whole WS thing going for them, a weaker division, and beltran is an aging player probably looking to win now. he also wouldnt have to play on turf in st louis.
that said he did say “city” which leaves it wide open to debate. i’ve never been to st louis, but i live in toronto and i know its a great place to live. i think toronto also has direct flights to puerto rico which apparently is important to him as well. toronto isnt much of a baseball town necessarily, although maybe thats changing given the explosion of anger in the last couple days over losing out on darvish.
then again we could be way off base and its not st louis vs. TO at all.
i was really skeptical of the beltran to jays rumors at the beginning, and i’m still doubtful hes coming, but the jays have been rumored as a suitor pretty consistently so maybe theres something to the rumors after all.
Never been to either city but really want to go visit Toronto badly..hear it’s amazing….the way things are going this offseason, mystery team will definitely swoop Beltran.
The turf in Toronto is bad for his Knees. Toronto isn’t an option for him.
Sounds like St. Louis and Toronto have the 3 year offers on the table and Carlos is trying to get the Rays to offer either more years and/or more money.. hints the “open to DH”
Again? Last year, anyone the Rays were rumored to want, the Jays signed. As boring as the off season can get, there needs to be 0 rumors involving the Rays because I’m pretty sure AA reads them.
But neither of them sign who they were linked to…
Still. Last year, the Rays were linked to Rauch, Fransisco (they were rebuilding their pen), Napoli ( and who knows how far we would of went if we had him instead of facing him in the playoffs). Then during the season, Rays wanted Rasmus pretty bad and look where he went. I was hoping this off season would be the reverse but it might just be the same old story. Whatever, Beltran was probably never going to happen. We simply need to re sign Damon who even with Boras wont be too expensive because no one else is interested and trade for Rizzo and then get rolling with the sickest young rotation in baseball.
Rizzo looks sweet, too bad we’re in the same division or I’d like you guys a lot. Damon was good for the price and veteran presence, and no one really wants him as you said. I’m fine with the Jays doing nothing, but I’d be excited about any off season acquisition.
Dude, you have Bautista. At the very least, your games are never boring. Falling asleep? Well a 500 foot bomb even if it tails foul will wake you right up.
Gotta love him, and our youth movement is exciting with Alvarez and Lawrie leading the pack, plus with the addition of Santos this team is easily better on paper than the one coming into last season.
Ya, this is definitely true. Even without many big additions, this is a much better team heading into camp.
Have to agree with Kurtits on Bautista & Lawrie….BUT…we have yet to see Longoria’s best. He will soon be MVP.
A full season of his 2011 2nd half is possible for someone like him. Especially if we get a bat like Beltran/Pena or Upton just breaks out because he’s playing for a contract.
Man, that walk off in game 162 STILL gives me chills.
speaking of foul balls, there was a rumor going around last year that bautista hit one out of the rogers centre. regardless if it actually happened, it’ll make for a great legend someday.
Of course he did it. You guys are cloning the gods up there. AA, Bautista, Lawrie…why don’t you just get it over with and rename the city Olympus?
Rauch & Francisco represented draft picks. AA picked up on Rays play book of “if you overpay, do it for one year and get draft picks at the end…especially for relievers”
I think AA read Rays’ GM playbook. Doing the same type of moves…but…with more money>>Doesn’t have to move players in their arb years.
We don’t do that either. Garza is the only real example of us doing that and he took a haul from the Cubs to get. Will Price be available in 2013? Probably, for an arm, a leg and since it’s Friedman, maybe the other GM’s manhood.
Let me phrase it differently…On avg, Rays pay $1m per WAR. Unusual for them to pay more than $2m per WAR. Players in their ARB years who don’t fit into pay structure get moved for good players in their pre-arb years.
High-end players get Longoria/Moore contracts. In other words, overpay on pre-arb/arb years to get lower salary in FA years which include team options.
Very shrewd asset/payroll management.
As long as they don’t go after Manny again, it would be a more successful offseason than last year.
Any chance of seeing “Braves in on Beltran” at some point? Or anyone else for that matter?
They were in on Ronny Cedeno. Not sure if they were able to land such a big name, though.
You would think. If anybody could use Beltran’s bat it’s the Braves.
I knew it, Thanks God for hearing me, Now let’s get to business
Plot twist!
One of my friends knows Beltran’s 3rd cousin and he said Carlos would rather live in Toronto, but play for St. Louis, that St. Louis is offering a little more per year but fewer years than Toronto, and that he’ll probably ultimately go to the Cardinals just to piss off the Royals fans. And that he will never consider going to play for the Indians unless they change their name to the Native Americans or something more politically correct.
Not gonna lie, this sounds like a massive bunch of unfounded hogwash.
im prince fielders 6th cousin once removed, and he says he would play for the pirates for less money just to piss off the brew crew. Never would play for the cardinals because his favorite bird is the red tailed hawk and never has liked cardinals
My uncle’s ferret’s previous owner is Alex Anthopoulos’ personal ball washer. He says that Prince is on the verge of signing, but is waiting out for the Jays to offer him his own personal seat in the dugout shaped like the iron throne.
Ok, this one was funny lol.
LMFAO!!!!
that is probably more creditable than a lot of the other quoted sources writers use.
Theres 10 seconds of my life that I will never get back. Add that to the three hours of shopping without actually buying anything I did with my grandmother last week and that becomes a ton of time I could have been using to do something productive. Like take a nap.
do you think i believe someone with hillary clinton as their profile pic?
The city vs money was supposedly, Rays offering less money but being closer to PR vs Cards offering more money. However, now I see no mention of the Rays anymore. Maybe, that’s just what we need. I know you read all of this AA, LET US HAVE SOME PLAYERS
Lets make this happen! GO TRIBE!!!
its not happening
Frfro
Indians are trying to corner the market on micro fracture surgery guys. Alomar as bench coach, re-signed Grady….why not bring in Beltran….
hey howard, another player to add to your mystery team!
Oh no, now the Rays are listed. The Blue Jays press conference should take place any day.
I don’t get it. Craig would of been the WS MVP if Freese didn’t go on fire the last 2 games and the guy has massive power potential, do they want Beltran for a month or do they want to bench Craig? The Jays have a young, loaded OF and seem to like E5 at DH. Red Sox want pitching, pitching and more pitching. Indians have a loaded OF too but I’m not sure how healthy they are, not that I’m sure how healthy Beltran is, it’s still a concern for them because Hafner is at DH. Rays have that DH spot open. They can try Joyce at DH and Beltran in RF occasionally to not upset Carlos but other then that, it’s a great fit.
I wouldn’t call the Indians OF “loaded”.
Brantley was terrible offensively last year and has proven nothing. Grady hasn’t been able to stay healthy the last 2 years and Choo was hurt last year as well (and struggled before the injury). Throw in Hafner at DH who can only play about 100 games (tops) and you also have the DH spot open for nearly half the games. Beltran is a GREAT fit in Cleveland….
That said, don’t see it happening. Money and years probably won’t match up.
Are you talking about Michael Brantley? How can you say he was terrible offensively last year? Posting a .266 batting average in his first starting role playing through a nagging injury? Do you expect everyone to hit .300? Come one man!
If batting average meant something, you’d have a point.
Fact is Brantley was WORSE at the plate last year than Matt LaPorta. worse OPS+ and identical wOBA and wRC+. Not saying cut Brantley, but he was a huge disappointment at the plate. Plays a nice LF (but bad in CF) and has value on the bases, but he was a 4th outfielder last year offensively and needs to improve if he wants to remain a starter.
Indians have told Brantley to bring his 1B glove to spring training. He babbled some there with the Brewers in the minors (was HORRIBLE in the OF). Won’t play much at 1B but IMO shows just how little faith the Indians have in him in the OF. They came out and said they don’t like him as a long-term CFer right now (and one big reason they brought back Sizemore).
Honestly would not be surprised if Brantley opened in AAA this year should the Tribe find an upgrade.
Brantley shouldn’t be playing first. He has no pop and is better suited in the Outfield. I don’t know why the Tribe don’t think about moving Grady at first. He has pop and I think for his medical history first base suites him better in my opinion. The one thing that is good the Indians have a lot of players that can play multiple positions. Don’t forget Jason Donald finished up the year on a good note and has a chance to compete for a starting role. We will see though, should be interesting 😉
Reason they dont move grady is simple…he is better defensively than Brantley even with his bum knees. Plus, playing the outfield on grass is better for your knees than playing the infield on dirt. Brantley’s bat does fit better in the OF…but remember he is playing LF. You are suppose to have power to play there. 1B is not that much different. Plus, i dont see brantley as an everyday 1B. Maybe 20 games max there…if that.
I get your point, but he’s 24, will turn 25 in may. He’s young and did a good job last year considering I don’t think he was going to be starter. He has a lot of upside just wish he would get on base more if he’s going to lead off. LaPorta hit .247 with an OBP of .299 which is awful. LaPorta had a higher OPS because he has more power than Brantley. Overall Brantley is a more consistent and better player than LaPorta and Brantley will have a very productive season this year. Watching the guy play you can tell if he’s a ballplayer and he definately is.
Confused here…..Brantley was ALWAYS going to be the starter in 2011. The only question was would he start in CF or LF. Valid point on lapirta having more power….problem is i never said lapirta had a higher OPS. (Said higher OPS+). Abrantley is suppose to be a leadoff guy but horrible OBP as well. Even wOBA, which showed they were equal. I agree on brantley being somewhat young and could improve…but he was bad last year, plain and simple..
Also, should be noted that this was NOT Brantley’s first starting role. He started a lot in 2010 and even was playing in 2009 with the club.
True lol I meant like full time starter playing like everyday. I don’t maybe I’m seeing something different but I think the guy is going to productive for a number of years with the Tribe
I’m micheal brantley’s biggest fan
And I’m Michael Brantley’s 2nd biggest fan then lol
I’m his third!
Cards likely are looking at Beltran as a part-time CFer too. Jon Jay was decent but you could do better. Plus don’t forget that Berkman is only signed for 1 year. Craig could move to 1B eventually (though I think Freese could as well)….or Craig could be a decent trade chip as he is still unproven over the course of a full season.
I agree the Rays are a great fit for Beltran…but like the Indians, money and years probably won’t match up. But never say never.
If the Rays or any AL team signs Carlos, his choice will come down to where he will get to play RF on a consistent basis. Rays could very easily move Joyce to DH and not worry about his feelings, plus he knows he would get plenty of time in RF when Maddon “rests” Beltran and lets him DH. And when Upton gets moved they can both play the corners with Jennings taking over CF.
I don’t see a hold up over a third year as any team could offer a 3rd year option based on games played clause and being in the AL would certainly help Betran get that because he could play so many games a DH and preserve his health(if needed). The question for the Rays is if they can convince Beltran of the benefits of playing in Tampa but avoid getting into a bidding war with any other teams, especially the Jays and Sox who would definitely look to bid up the price to keep him away from the Rays.