Giants To Acquire Carlos Beltran
3:11pm: The Giants and Mets have reached a tentative agreement on a Beltran trade, report Rosenthal and Morosi.
2:27pm: The Mets will pay $4MM of the $6MM remaining on Beltran's contract, an executive not directly involved with the trade tells Sherman. The number is confirmed by ESPN's Buster Olney (Twitter link).
1:30pm: If nothing happens in the next 24 hours to scuttle the deal, it's just Wheeler for Beltran and cash, tweets Sherman. The Mets are sending a significant amount of money, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
12:45pm: Olney tweets that Giants pitching prospect Zack Wheeler is expected to be the centerpiece in the trade, and Jon Paul Morosi agrees.
12:17pm: Carlos Beltran is going to the Giants, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown, with logistics being worked out. Just minor details remain, tweets SI's Jon Heyman. ESPN's Buster Olney tweets that the two teams are at the one-yard line, while Brown reminds us that a 24-hour waiting period applies since Beltran has 10-and-5 rights. The Phillies are just barely hanging on for Beltran, according to multiple reports.
Carlos Beltran Rumors: Wednesday
Yesterday's Carlos Beltran learnings: the Indians offered to pick up all of Beltran's contract and include a good player, but nothing was presented to the player; the Phillies won't trade Jonathan Singleton for Beltran and many other top prospects can't be had either; the Mets' asking price has come down from two weeks ago and they're talking two and three-prospect deals with suitors. The latest:
- Beltran is not going to the Rangers, tweets Rosenthal. The Giants are his presumed frontrunner. He says the Mets had asked about Giants prospects Zack Wheeler and Gary Brown. They won't get Wheeler, but Rosenthal says "we'll see" on Brown.
- Giants starter Jonathan Sanchez could go to the Mets as part of a Beltran trade, tweets Sherman.
- Some executives believe Boras is trying to direct Beltran to the Giants, a team that has the money to retain him after the season, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post. Meanwhile Ken Rosenthal tweets that the Rangers are offering the Mets a greater number of players for Beltran than the Giants, who are offering fewer players but more quality. The Phillies are still serious, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
- The Indians walked away from the Beltran talks convinced that agent Scott Boras is controlling the process, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney. They won't shut the door on Beltran but believe he won't change his mind, tweets Yahoo's Jeff Passan.
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post says the Mets have "moved off A-level prospect requests" for Beltran, but Andy Martino of the New York Daily News has a high-level source who denies the Mets have lowered their asking price.
- The Mets are making progress in negotiations with the Rangers and Giants, reports ESPN's Buster Olney. The Braves remain involved.
Carlos Beltran Rumors: Tuesday
Yesterday right fielder Carlos Beltran shot down the notion that he's told the Mets he won't accept a trade to an American League team. Writers agree that the Rangers are making a big push and that the Phillies have cooled, but the standing of the Braves, Red Sox, and Giants is unclear. The latest up top:
- Beltran says he never blocked a deal to the Indians, according to Mike Puma of the New York Post (on Twitter). He says the Mets haven't come to him with possible deals.
- The Indians offered to pick up all of Beltran's remaining contract and give the Mets a good player in return according to MLB.com's Peter Gammons, but Cleveland was not a fit for the Scott Boras client. Heyman reports (on Twitter) that the deal was never presented to Beltran, so the Mets must know which teams he'll accept a trade to.
- The Phillies won't give up Jonathan Singleton for Beltran, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com, who confirms that Cosart and Brown aren't available either (Twitter link). More Phillies prospects will soon be off the table as well, according to Heyman.
- Brewers GM Doug Melvin declined to speak about Beltran in particular, but he told Adam McCalvy of MLB.com that he's always open to making the right deal, generally speaking.
- Agent Scott Boras told ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick that Beltran's decision to accept or block a trade will revolve around his chances of winning a title. Crasnick's take on the leading suitors for Beltran confirms what we've read for the past 24 hours or so: the Rangers have ramped up their pursuit of Beltran and the Braves and Giants remain interested, while the Red Sox and Phillies appear to have slipped to the back of the pack.
- There's a strong belief the best offer may come from the Rangers, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
- The Mets' asking price has come down a bit from two weeks ago, an interested executive told Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter links). Sherman says the Mets are talking two and three-prospect deals with the Rangers, Red Sox, Giants, Braves, Phillies, and Brewers.
- The Mets have been turned down on requests for Mike Minor, Julio Teheran, or Arodys Vizcaino of the Braves, Zack Wheeler or Gary Brown of the Giants, and Domonic Brown or Jarred Cosart of the Phillies, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. Stark says the Mets are telling teams the Beltran deal isn't about money, and the team that offers the best players will get him.
- A high-ranking source tells ESPN's Buster Olney there is no clear frontrunner for Beltran as of right now (Twitter link). Meanwhile, a source close to the talks tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports he expects things to intensify within the next 48 hours (Twitter link).
- The Giants "look like a possible favorite" for Beltran at the moment, reports SI's Jon Heyman. The Braves are very interested as well, while the Phillies "don't seem all that involved."
- The Reds are not currently involved in trade talks for Beltran, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- An executive from a team that has expressed interest in Beltran told Joel Sherman of the New York Post, "They are not getting a top-40-ranked prospect for Beltran even if they eat all the money [left on his contract]." Sherman's article goes on to explain why the Mets will probably have to settle for less-than-elite prospects. He reiterates that the Rangers are aggressively pursuing Beltran and the Braves and Red Sox are the other two most interested clubs.
Cardinals Shopping Colby Rasmus
9:51pm: Manager Tony La Russa told KSDK TV-5 in St. Louis that Rasmus "doesn't listen" to Cardinals coaches, as Austin Laymance and Matthew Leach explain at MLB.com. "That's why he gets in these funks, in my opinion," La Russa said.
1:41pm: Cardinals GM John Mozeliak told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio today that nothing has changed since he told Bowden at the All-Star game that he was not shopping Rasmus (Twitter link).
12:04pm: An AL official told Joel Sherman of the New York Post that the Cardinals "are definitely shopping" center fielder Colby Rasmus, despite public denials. The official says the Cards "are asking for a ton." Danny Knobler of CBS Sports agrees, tweeting that the Cards are shopping Rasmus widely. Knobler notes that the Nationals had a scout in St. Louis last night.
The White Sox and Rays have also been linked to Rasmus, but earlier this month GM John Mozeliak said a trade is "highly unlikely." The Mariners have also inquired, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports, and Knobler notes that the Giants have watched Rasmus as a possible Carlos Beltran backup plan.
Even in a down year, the 24-year-old Rasmus is hitting .245/.332/.421 on the season. He's under team control through 2014.
My apologies for an earlier error in which I erroneously attributed the "asking for a ton" quote to the Rays and B.J. Upton.
B.J. Upton Rumors: Tuesday
The latest on Rays center fielder B.J. Upton, who owns a .229/.310/.399 line on the season:
- The Rays had a scout watching the Nationals' Triple-A team yesterday, tweets Joel Sherman of the New York Post.
- The Giants are showing strong interest, tweets SI's Jon Heyman.
- The Indians, Giants, Braves, and Pirates are among the teams in on Upton, report Jon Paul Morosi and Ken Rosenthal. The Royals are not seriously pursuing Upton, while the Brewers, Rangers, and Phillies are not involved.
- The Nationals have balked at trading pitchers Ross Detwiler or Brad Peacock for Upton, reports ESPN's Jayson Stark. One executive says the Giants have moved in.
- Five teams are "in play" for Upton, a source tells Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports (Twitter link).
My apologies for an earlier error in which I erroneously attributed Joel Sherman's "asking for a ton" quote to the Rays and B.J. Upton. The quote actually referred to the Cardinals and Colby Rasmus.
Carlos Beltran Rumors: Monday
MLBTR readers would trade for B.J. Upton over Carlos Beltran, but one GM said to Yahoo's Jeff Passan, "Upton and Rasmus are better long term, but if I want to win this year, I'm getting Beltran." Yesterday we learned that Beltran has a list of seven NL teams to which he will accept a trade, though publicly he expressed a willingness to play for the Rangers and Red Sox when asked by a reporter about the five most interested clubs. The Giants, Braves, and Phillies are seen as more likely. Today's Beltran rumors, with the newest at top:
- Joel Sherman of the New York Post believes the Rangers are pushing hardest for Beltran, followed by the Braves and Red Sox. The Giants and Phillies appear to be fading, Sherman writes (on Twitter).
- The Rangers and Giants appear to be ahead of the Phillies and Braves in pursuit of Beltran, according to ESPN.com's Jerry Crasnick (on Twitter). As Crasnick points out, everything can change quickly.
- There isn't much confidence within the industry that the Mets will obtain a top prospect for Beltran, according to Newsday's Ken Davidoff.
- Beltran said yesterday that he has had "zero" contact with GM Sandy Alderson regarding possible trades, according to Newsday's David Lennon (on Twitter).
- The Phillies have cooled on the idea of trading for Beltran, according to ESPN.com's Jayson Stark.
- Beltran told Mike Puma of the New York Post, "I have not told (the Mets) I won't play for an American League team. I don't know where that is coming from" (Twitter link). Beltran said he's fine with the American League as long as he doesn't have to DH.
- There's no sign of the Mets dropping their price on Beltran, tweets ESPN's Jerry Crasnick.
- The Giants and Phillies continue to be the favorites with the Braves still in the mix, tweets Yahoo's Tim Brown.
- The Giants, Red Sox, and Pirates could take on the most money in a Beltran deal, opined one executive to Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link).
- As with B.J. Upton, the Braves don't appear willing to give up Julio Teheran, Randall Delgado, Mike Minor, or Arodys Vizcaino for Beltran, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- The Mets are "expected to finish evaluation of rival farm systems in next day or two" in preparation for a Beltran trade, tweets ESPN's Buster Olney.
- The Phillies are saying top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart is unavailable in a deal, especially for a rental like Beltran, reports Passan. A scout from the Phillies will be at the Mets' game tonight in Cincinnati, tweets ESPN's Adam Rubin.
- The Rangers ramped up their pursuit of Beltran in the last 36 hours, says Passan.
- The Giants aren't close to acquiring Beltran, GM Brian Sabean told reporters yesterday.
AL West Notes: Fister, Rangers, Pena
On this date last year, the Angels acquired Dan Haren from Arizona for Patrick Corbin, Tyler Skaggs, Rafael Rodriguez and Joe Saunders. The Angels finished with a losing record in 2010, but they're in contention now and Haren has been excellent, posting a 3.01 ERA with 7.3 K/9 and 1.7 BB/9 in 239 innings for the Halos. Meawhile, Skaggs has developed into one of the top prospects in the game and Corbin is highly-regarded as well. Here's the latest from the AL West…
- Mariners starters Felix Hernandez and Doug Fister told Danny Knobler of CBSSports.com that they don't want to be traded.
- Rangers manager Ron Washington confirmed to T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com that he'd like to see the Rangers fortify their bullpen before the trade deadline.
- The Mariners appear to believe Fister is better than Jason Vargas, so they may not want to deal Fister, according to Knobler (on Twitter).
- Rangers assistant GM Thad Levine told Jim Bowden of MLB Network Radio that Texas continues discussing a contract extension for left-hander C.J. Wilson (Twitter links). Wilson, who hits free agency after the season, received a contract offer from the Rangers in March.
- Levine also confirmed that the Rangers are looking for bullpen help and a left fielder.
- The Mariners, A's, Brewers and Giants have looked at free agent slugger Wily Mo Pena, according to Jon Heyman of SI.com (on Twitter). The Diamondbacks recently released Pena, who hit five homers in 46 plate appearances this year.
Stark On Bell, Beltran, Rays, Giants
The latest from ESPN's Jayson Stark…
- The Rangers and Phillies are the favorites for Padres closer Heath Bell, with the Cardinals, Angels, Braves, and Reds also in the mix.
- One executive Stark spoke to wouldn't be surprised to see a dark horse like the Reds or Brewers make a late run at Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran.
- An official who spoke with the Rays over the weekend said that while they're not trading James Shields, they'll decide later this week on players like Johnny Damon and Kyle Farnsworth. B.J. Upton could be dealt even if the team closes its 6.5 game wild card deficit.
- The Rays and Blue Jays have been scouting each other's farm systems recently. One scout speculated that the Jays could join a three-team Upton trade somehow.
- One team says Brian Sabean's off-limits prospects are Zack Wheeler, Heath Hembree, and Gary Brown, along with Brandon Belt. That'd leave the team without any top 50 prospects to move, with Francisco Peguero and Ehire Adrianza in the next tier based on Baseball America's preseason rankings. There's also Double-A lefty Eric Surkamp, who brought his ERA down to 2.00 yesterday.
- The Phillies are steering teams to their High-A Clearwater club, as they don't want to trade big leaguers and not to add much more than a million bucks in payroll. Jonathan Singleton, Brody Colvin, Trevor May, Sebastian Valle, and Jiwan James are names to watch there assuming Jarred Cosart is untouchable. Stark says the Phillies have cooled on Beltran and Hunter Pence is a long shot, so the focus is now the back end of the bullpen. Heath Bell is the top target, with Brandon League also on the radar.
Sabean Not Finding Shortstop, Catcher Upgrades
Earlier this month, I deemed the trade market weak at many positions, including catcher and shortstop. Giants GM Brian Sabean appears to agree. His comments to Rusty Simmons of the San Francisco Chronicle and other reporters yesterday:
"Right now, we don't see an upgrade with the names out there at shortstop or at catcher, and that kind of puts you in a box. A lot of the names that are being speculated on aren't even in the market. Will that change in the last 48 or 72 hours? Perhaps. Quite frankly, there are some teams that we wish would fall out of it so that we could have more conversation."
With the Reds still in contention and not likely to move Ramon Hernandez, Geovany Soto rumors scarce, and Ronny Paulino likely to stay put, it's difficult to find an available starting catcher. I wonder if Sabean was referring to the Reds, who are three games out and have strong catching depth beginning with Hernandez. Colorado's Chris Iannetta would be a nice addition, but Sabean and Dan O'Dowd have never made a significant trade that I can find.
On the shortstop front, failing a surprise blockbuster deal for Hanley Ramirez, the best options might be the Astros' Clint Barmes or the Dodgers' Jamey Carroll and Rafael Furcal. As the Brewers might tell you, shortstop upgrades are hard to come by this summer.
The Giants remain intrigued by the Twins' Michael Cuddyer, tweets Jon Paul Morosi of FOX Sports. At seven games out, the Twins might be drifting out of contention, but it appears they'll retain Cuddyer anyway and try to re-sign him.
Upton Emerging As Alternative Target To Beltran
While the trade rumors continue to simmer regarding Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, his full no-trade clause and pending free agency are making talks between the Mets and trade suitors sticky. As a result, Rays center fielder B.J. Upton is emerging as an alternative trade target, according to Ken Rosenthal and Jon Paul Morosi of FOXSports.com.
The Giants, considered one of the leading candidates to land Beltran from the Mets, are among the teams now showing interest in Upton. The Indians, too, are interested, and the Braves, Phillies and Rangers could be, according to Rosenthal. Though Beltran is the superior offensive player of the two, Upton is better defensively and under team control through 2012, and the Giants or other suitors would therefore be more likely to part with a top prospect for him.
San Francisco is using Nate Schierholtz as its primary right fielder presently, so Rosenthal speculates that the addition of Upton to center field could lead to a platoon between Andres Torres and Cody Ross, players with complementary batting splits, in left field.
Earlier this evening, we learned that Beltran has privately told the Mets he will not accept a trade to an American League team, so between that and Upton apparently being made available on the trade market, it would seem Beltran's value may be taking a hit. The Nationals have long been rumored to be interested in acquiring in Upton, and Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote today that the Nats are considering "offering the moon" for Upton.