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- Keyser Soze - 01-09-2005
Mets reach Beltran deal
BY JON HEYMAN
STAFF WRITER
January 9, 2005, 1:08 PM EST
The Mets reached an agreement in principle this afternoon to sign star centerfielder Carlos Beltran for $119 million over seven years, making him their centerpiece player.
The Mets finalized the deal to obtain the five-tool free agent centerfielder this morning. Beltran is expected to take a physical examination on Monday with the actual signing to take place Tuesday. A press conference is also likely Tuesday.
The Mets made Beltran their No. 1 target throughout the winter. The Astros came close to reaching an agreement with Beltran but balked at including a no-trade clause in the agreement. Houston is believed to have offered at least $105M. The Yankees were in contact with agent Scott Boras throughout the day yesterday but around 6 p.m. George Steinbrenner told Yankees president Randy Levine they were not prepared to pay Beltran the $112 million Boras was requesting at the time.
The signing of Beltran caps an extremely successful winter for the Mets. They signed the best free-agent pitcher Pedro Martinez, and looked very likely to sign the best everyday player as well. Beltran hit .267 and had 38 home runs and 42 stolen bases in 2004 and played brilliantly in the postseason to lead the Astros within a game of the World Series.
Going into the week, Mets people were uncertain whether Beltran would sign with them. But they had to feel better about their chances when Boras on Friday sent them a counteroffer to their $112-million bid.
The Mets resumed serious talks after the Astros failed to sign Beltran by their midnight deadline. The Astros and Beltran's agent Scott Boras negotiated right until Houston's deadline, when talks broke off. A few contractual hurdles could not be cleared.
The Mets had been the highest bidder going into the day, but Boras had been hoping the Yankees would get into the mix. The Yankees surprised the Beltran camp by declining to meet his asking price. Yankees president Randy Levine told agent Scott Boras in a 6 p.m. phone call that the Yankees were not ready to go to $16 million per year, or $112 million total. Yankees people stayed by their phone, and it is believed they would have gotten more involved if the price dropped into the $100-million range.
Boras was in contact throughout the day with three teams, the Astros, Mets and Yankees.
A person familiar with the Yankees thinking said that while they liked the player very much, they were concerned about the luxury-tax implications of a $112-million contract, and that the timing wasn't perfect since some big contracts, like Kevin Brown and Bernie Williams, don't come off the books until next year.
George Steinbrenner was in contact with Boras several times throughout the week, and word was that Beltran was very interested in becoming a Yankee. Steinbrenner held a 90-meeting in Tampa Friday to discuss the Beltran situation, and w While his baseball people expressed a concern about Bernie Williams' diminishing skill in centerfield, his "money men'' also had their say.
One person who's talked to Yankees officials said that the Yankees might have considered re-evaluating things if they were able to make a favorable separation settlement with Jason Giambi. However, that could take until close to spring training, and would be an enormous gamble for Beltran to wait it out when he had other $100-million-plus offers on the table.
The Astros bid where few thought they would go to try to beat the large-market teams that vied for Beltran's services. It is believed they bid at least $105 million over seven years.
Astros owner Drayton McLane aggressively pursued Beltran all winter. McLane made it a personal goal to keep Beltran, who excited Astros fans with a monster postseason performance that brought them within one game of their first World Series. Most people never believed Houston would surpass the $100-million mark but it did in the final days, giving itself a fighting chance.
- Arpikarhu - 01-09-2005
enjoy your 17 million dollar .260 hitter
- Keyser Soze - 01-09-2005
Beltran is the only player in baseball history to compile four consecutive seasons with at least 20 home runs, 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. If you can boast you are the only player in history to do anything like that, you are special.
- Arpikarhu - 01-09-2005
enjoy your 17 million dollar .260 hitter. especially when you have no one to protect him in the lineup.
- The Jays - 01-09-2005
Keyser Soze Wrote:Beltran is the only player in baseball history to compile four consecutive seasons with at least 20 home runs, 100 runs, 100 RBIs and 30 stolen bases. If you can boast you are the only player in history to do anything like that, you are special.Make sure to thank George Steinbrenner.
- Galt - 01-09-2005
You know...the Mets might not be half bad this year.
And Beltran has a .285 lifetime average. He hit .260 in half a season in a new league, big deal.
- Arpikarhu - 01-09-2005
nobody to protect him in the lineup. he will see junk all year.
- Galt - 01-09-2005
as opposed to the superstars he's had behind him in KC for the last three years? The only guy who's even close to good is Mike Sweeney, and he's been hurt for the past four years.
David Wright, Flyod, and Pizza are certainly better than what he had around him in KC
- The Jays - 01-09-2005
I'd certainly sign with NY for the chance to be around Pizza
- Arpikarhu - 01-09-2005
pizza is delicious. i cant fight that idea
- The Jays - 01-09-2005
It puts every other team in MLB at a disadvantage when these fuckin New York teams can offer these players so much pizza.
- Keyser Soze - 01-10-2005
Minaya, Mets aren't kidding around
Ownership, new GM have no patience for rebuilding
-Tom Singer, MLB.com
If Omar Minaya walks up to you on the street and bets you that he can clear the Empire State Building in a single bound, don't take it. It's a sucker's bet.
If Minaya says he can make three years' misery vanish, and wants to see the money that says he can't, walk away.
Ten short weeks ago, the idea of the New York Mets corraling the best pitcher and the prime position player on the free agent market was as preposterous as the Boston Red Sox actually winning a World Series.
Well, here we are. The World Series Trophy is in Beantown. Pedro Martinez is in Flushing and Carlos Beltran is about to join him. The Mets are in the hunt, for the National League East title and New York headlines alike. Their fans are in heaven.
And Omar Minaya very obviously is in charge, in control and in the groove.
He is the embodiment of every parental encouragement. "Aim as high as you wish. You can accomplish anything you put your mind to."
Soon after assuming control of the Mets organization in the waning days of the 2004 season, Minaya put his mind to shoveling dirt on three years and 272 losses. He hustled, he turned on the charm, he was in-person and personable.
No gradual rebuilding for him. None of that Rome gameplan. He would rebuild in a day.
He went right for the foundation, talking Martinez out of a jaded situation in Boston and into a position of influence in New York. Introduced as a Met 3 1/2 weeks ago, Pedro was credited with instantly making the team credible for other free agents.
Complete coverage >
Martinez was also hailed as the Mets' new face. Well, make them two-faced now.
Beltran was such an arresting player not only because of his talents, but because of his age. He is 27, which made him a unique free agent catch, considering all that he has already accomplished.
The Mets, owner Fred Wilpon doubtless foremost among them, needed some heavy encouragement to leap again after a series of doomed big-name imports. But Mo Vaughn and Roberto Alomar were both 34 when acquired, Jeromy Burnitz 33.
Beltran is doom-proof.
His exit from Houston is far less glorious than his entry into New York. But the priorities which led him to spurn Houston's franchise-record nine-figure offer for a marginally bigger payday in New York will be left to be debated elsewhere.
From the Mets' and Minaya's perspectives, this is a major triumph. Beltran's edge had been dulled through 6 1/2 mostly noncompetitive seasons in Kansas City. He wanted a situation that offered him more October exposures as the one he so brilliantly exploited a couple of months ago.
The Mets, beginning with the new GM, had to sell him on a bright future, which of course comes more into focus with him on board.
Minaya also gets points for the behind-the-scenes persuasion, whatever form it took, that moved agent Scott Boras away from his usual tactics.
Boras is not one to subscribe to quick decisions, not when there are financial levers yet to be pulled. There is ample documentation of that.
Thoughts of Beltran agreeing with a team mere hours after the Houston door slammed behind him were far remote. Many felt the passing of the Astros' deadline merely dropped the gavel on an auction.
But Minaya wouldn't be played for a bargaining chip, and he somehow convinced the Beltran camp of that.
That took some daring, but as far as having his neck on the line is concerned, Minaya is just getting started. Wilpon, who on the day his new GM was introduced had said, "I'm tired of losing," would tire of it even more after being talked into peeling off $170 million for Martinez and Beltran.
While it will take a long season to bring the first judgment on the two high-profile signings, there is no argument that the Mets can lay claim to one of the Majors' highest-ceiling stars in Beltran. He is even better than advertised, at least in regards to decorations.
You've heard of the man without a country. Well, Beltran in 2004 was a man without a league.
Splitting his season between the AL's Royals and the NL's Astros essentially discounted his 38 homers, 104 RBIs and 42 stolen bases -- stats in which ranks are assigned along league lines.
But Beltran doesn't need extra validation. In five of his six big league seasons, he has gone 20-100 in homers and RBIs; the lone exception was 2000, when the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year missed two months with a bruised knee.
Well, that's not entirely accurate: Beltran missed one month with the injury, then was suspended by the Royals for the second month for refusing to report to Florida for rehabilitation.
It's not entirely what you think. Beltran had preferred to instead rejoin the big club, feeling his place was in Kansas City, trying to help the Royals win, rather than under the palms.
So maybe we need to make room in his crowded workshop for a sixth tool: Competitiveness.
One he certainly shares with his new general manager.
- The Jays - 01-10-2005
He's a regular Isiah Thomas, ain't he?
- Keyser Soze - 01-10-2005
we can only hope
- HollywoodJewMoses - 01-10-2005
yeah arpi he did real shitty in kansas city with all the superstar studs he had protecting him in that lineup
- Keyser Soze - 01-10-2005
3 switch hitters at the top of the order, all who avg 30 or more stolen bases a year!!!
- PeterDragon - 01-11-2005
Minaya said today that the free agent push is because the team needs to get back to respectability. The big game plan is still to get young players and keep them, unlike the stupidity in recent years. A small note in yesterday's paper is the signing (finally) of 1st round pick Philip Humber.
arpi, last year Jeter had a OPS of .823; Beltran an OPS with houston of .926. You gonna tell me Jeter wasn't worth the money??
Beltran, like Jeter is an intangibles player.
- HollywoodJewMoses - 01-11-2005
jeter is known as Captain Intangible because he is a leader, and has a ton of postseason experience.
i dont think beltran is intangible, hes a stud 5 tool player.
- Keyser Soze - 01-11-2005
Thats not what Omar said!:
"At 27 years old, Carlos Beltran is still realizing
his full potential. He is a true five-tool player who actually
has a sixth tool - his character and make-up will be a powerful
positive influence in the clubhouse and dugout as well as on
the field."
- HollywoodJewMoses - 01-11-2005
yeah you are right, when he was in houston and kc, i always read about his clubhouse presence.