Thank You Drayton Mclane!

[MoBalls]

So we didnt get Beltran, but I have to give it up to Drayton. The man tried and put more than enough cash on the table for Beltran. He also called many times and kept it in Carlos's ear that Houston really wanted him. I'm not gonna blame Purpura either because it was Draytons cash that would have brought him here. To me , this just tells me that it "isnt about winning", its about the cash. So go with the Mets Carlos and I hope all is well for you there. Dont want you if you dont want us. I'm still an Astros fan.

Thank You Drayton!

[swilkins]

I agree.

F'n greedy athletes. It's always about the money. This is why I'm not a huge baseball fan. I'll watch the occasional game, but I only go to a few games a year.

Thanks Drayton, for giving it the ole college try.

[Aggie 99]

I agree....

[isoman2kx]

yeah, can't do all that much more


sadly... it'll be a long few next offseasons :o

[Groogrux]

And the offseason isn't over yet.

If we can sign someone like Ordonez and some bullpen help, I think we can still be contenders, especially with the luster off the Cubs and the Cards losing some key players (despite picking up Mulder).

Thanks Drayton for going hard after the best free agent this season. Thank you for not allowing us to become the Rangers, Brewers, Pirates, Reds, Rockies, Expos, Tigers, Royals, Devil Rays, or any other sad sack team that never has a chance. Your ownership gave this town the baseball season it has ever seen and for that, I will always be grateful.

[MLittle577]

Carlos Beltran
Carlos Boozer

Wow the similarities in those two names are striking.:D

[isoman2kx]

Originally posted by Rocketman95
And the offseason isn't over yet.

If we can sign someone like Ordonez and some bullpen help, I think we can still be contenders, especially with the luster off the Cubs and the Cards losing some key players (despite picking up Mulder).

Thanks Drayton for going hard after the best free agent this season. Thank you for not allowing us to become the Rangers, Brewers, Pirates, Reds, Rockies, Expos, Tigers, Royals, Devil Rays, or any other sad sack team that never has a chance. Your ownership gave this town the baseball season it has ever seen and for that, I will always be grateful.


ordonez = boras

.....
....
.....

[Groogrux]

Originally posted by isoman2kx
ordonez = boras

.....
....
.....

I don't think that precludes us from signing him. I'd rather not deal with a Boras client, but I wouldn't make it a rule if we could get a player of his that could help us.

[isoman2kx]

Originally posted by Rocketman95
I don't think that precludes us from signing him. I'd rather not deal with a Boras client, but I wouldn't make it a rule if we could get a player of his that could help us.

hmm....... i would


i definitely would

lol

[Trader_Jorge]

Originally posted by Rocketman95
I don't think that precludes us from signing him.

Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Hey, maybe we can try to lure Ordonez with another hometown discount strategy.

[gunn]

Originally posted by MoBalls
To me , this just tells me that it "isnt about winning", its about the cash.

I'm just flat out, tired of hearing this.

[Buck Turgidson]

Can we all just agree that DR8ON SUX and that "we" will all be better off when the consortium of Landry's Inc. and the Kroc Foundation buys the Stros?

In the spring, baseball will still be here for those that love it.

[Aceshigh7]

I don't want Ordonez. He is a step down from Beltran in every way. He is slow. He is older. He doesn't have Beltran's power. And by the way, look at his salary from last year, 14 mil. That's about what we were going to pay Beltran.

I saw we swing a trade for Jose Cruz Jr, sign Hideo Nomo and give him a chance at the 4th or 5th starter spot, and find some quality middle relief help.

[Gummi Clutch]

I'm just flat out, tired of hearing this.

TRUTH HURTS.

[gunn]

Originally posted by Gummi Clutch
TRUTH HURTS.

Without Beltran in either line-up, what exactly puts the Astros head and shoulders above the Mets?

[Deuce Rings]

Yes. Thank you Drayton McLane for betting the future of the franchise in a high stakes poker game in which Beltran held all the cards :rolleyes: . Like it or not, by choosing to pursue Beltran, it was a Beltran-or-else proposition and he needed to be prepared to go the distance. Knowing the history of the agent he was dealing with and knowing that his max offer was going to be below what Beltran was pursuing, and knowing that a deadline date gives the agent the upper hand, I think it was too risky to pursue Beltran and he should have pulled out a month ago to pursue other free agents. This is Randy Johnson part deaux.

[ima_drummer2k]

Originally posted by Deuce Rings
I think it was too risky to pursue Beltran and he should have pulled out a month ago to pursue other free agents.
Did you feel this way a few days ago? I doubt it.

[Uprising]

So....do we still get Clemens on this not so good looking team?

Aren't we missing 2 starters in our rotation still?

[Deuce Rings]

Originally posted by ima_drummer2k
Did you feel this way a few days ago? I doubt it.

It doesn't matter how I feel. Only McLane knew what his ceiling and Beltran's wish list was. If he knew his best bid was going to be below Beltran's asking price, he should've moved on. That's the point. You're going after the most sought after free agent in baseball. There are going to be competitors.

[kaleidosky]

Originally posted by Deuce Rings
It doesn't matter how I feel. Only McLane knew what his ceiling and Beltran's wish list was. If he knew his best bid was going to be below Beltran's asking price, he should've moved on. That's the point. You're going after the most sought after free agent in baseball. There are going to be competitors.


The point was they DIDN't know his best bid was going to be below Beltran's asking price. You don't know what other teams are bidding? By your logic, everyone should pull out, because the supposed asking price was 10 yrs 200 million.

Genius, let all the GMs know! Pull out now! Cause you're not going to get him! Alert alert!

[Deuce Rings]

Originally posted by kaleidosky
The point was they DIDN't know his best bid was going to be below Beltran's asking price. You don't know what other teams are bidding? By your logic, everyone should pull out, because the supposed asking price was 10 yrs 200 million.

Genius, let all the GMs know! Pull out now! Cause you're not going to get him! Alert alert!

No, the Astros made it clear that they weren't going any higher when their best offer was below Beltran's minimum asking price. You also hear that the Mets had offered between $115 and $120 million last week. Those are the facts. If that is as high as they intended to go, they had no business putting all their chips into this one negotiation. Seems blatantly obvious to me. Don't let your loyalty blind you from what just happened. Teams have been lining up to acquire Beltran as a free agent for years. Expect the price to be high. Don't mortgage the team's future on a chance that Beltran might give you a home town discount.

[Refman]

Originally posted by Trader_Jorge
Those who don't learn from the past are doomed to repeat it.

Hey, maybe we can try to lure Ordonez with another hometown discount strategy.
The best free agents since the current CBA went into effect (Vlad Guerrero and Luis Pujols) got $14M a year. We offered Carlos $15M.

How the hell is that a hometown discount offer?

You really are a lot more stupid than I had thought.

[BigM]

deuce rings- drayton's ceiling was a damn good price for a player of beltran's level. apparently you think beltran is worth more but he really isn't. why shouild he be paid more then vlad guerrero or pujols? in this case boras got the mets to overpay, we'll see how good he is now.

[candlegreen]

A winning team is more than just hitting. The Met's pitching staff is horrific.

Thank-you McLane for making a valiant effort to pursue Beltran!

[Deuce Rings]

Originally posted by BigM
deuce rings- drayton's ceiling was a damn good price for a player of beltran's level. apparently you think beltran is worth more but he really isn't. why shouild he be paid more then vlad guerrero or pujols? in this case boras got the mets to overpay, we'll see how good he is now.

Everyone loves to use the Vlad Guerrero contract as the benchmark. Given Beltran's agent, I think you should be thinking more ARod than Guerrero. And again, I'm not criticizing management for not overspending on Beltran. I'm criticizing their decision to mortgage the team's future on a chance that he might come back. Believe me, these guys had to know Beltran could get far more than they were willing to offer weeks ago. GM's have been salivating over Beltran for two freakin' years. You knew there was going to be hot competition from the richest franchises for his services. You don't draw a line in the sand when you're not holding any cards and with the Astros' deadline and no other free agents available, trust me the Astros were not holding the cards weeks ago.

[sums41]

Nice one, i would also like to point out that if winning was only about money, the Mets would be one of the best teams in baseball. if im not mistaken he Mets are one of the crappiest teams in baseball and will never get to the top of their division because the Braves are there too, the Braves are kind of like the Astros in a way. Both teams are in the upper middle class when it comes to cash, and both teams have good GMs. The Mets can spend all the cash they want just like they have been doing for so long, they not even nuber one in their city much less in their division. we will survive this, nothing to see here folks move along.

[ArtV]

Thanks Drayton - I considered Carlos as a rent-a-player when he came here. It was nice that you gave what I'd consider the best offer to him. Time to move on.

And Refman - it's Albert Pujols not Luis.

[kaleidosky]

Originally posted by Deuce Rings
No, the Astros made it clear that they weren't going any higher when their best offer was below Beltran's minimum asking price. You also hear that the Mets had offered between $115 and $120 million last week. Those are the facts. If that is as high as they intended to go, they had no business putting all their chips into this one negotiation. Seems blatantly obvious to me. Don't let your loyalty blind you from what just happened. Teams have been lining up to acquire Beltran as a free agent for years. Expect the price to be high. Don't mortgage the team's future on a chance that Beltran might give you a home town discount.

yes, the Astros made it clear recently. Yes, the Mets offered higher LAST WEEK, as you said.

Your proposal was to "move on". So say we had moved on when we had the info necessary--i.e. last week. Then we'd be much further ahead in the game than we are? No, nothing would be different.

Even if the chances went in the toilet last week, I think you stay with your 10% chances (not that I think they were that low) since there was only a week left in negotiations.

[topfive]

Wait until Carlos hits a bad batting spell or fails to deliver in the clutch a time or two -- the NY fans and media will be mercilous. I sure hope the kid had a really thick skin regarding criticism, because he's gonna need it.

[leroy420]

Originally posted by gunn
Without Beltran in either line-up, what exactly puts the Astros head and shoulders above the Mets?

They're the Mets. They'll find a way to lose. It's rather amazing.

[gunn]

Originally posted by leroy420
They're the Mets. They'll find a way to lose. It's rather amazing.

That's funny... because a statement like that, to some, may be more aptly tied to the Astros.

[NJRocket]

You people thanking this guy can't be serious.

I mean you honestly need to get a clue.

This disaster single handedly set us back at least 4 or 5 years. I don't think he's cheap....I think he's a moron. You can't go after one guy and not have a plan B...not when you come within 1 game of the World Series after never winning a playoff series in your history...not 4 months after you draw 3 million plus fans....and certainly not when you don;t expect to overpay.

As a season ticket holder, I am absolutely disgusted with how this was handled.

[TheRaven]

Beltran Agrees to Structure $119 Million Deal With Mets
Contract Will Include $11 Million Signing Bonus for Center Fielder
By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports


"...McLane turned down Beltran's demand for a no-trade clause, several people said, which became an obstacle to a deal, perhaps the fatal one."

[LonghornFan]

Originally posted by NJRocket
You people thanking this guy can't be serious.

I mean you honestly need to get a clue.

This disaster single handedly set us back at least 4 or 5 years. I don't think he's cheap....I think he's a moron. You can't go after one guy and not have a plan B...not when you come within 1 game of the World Series after never winning a playoff series in your history...not 4 months after you draw 3 million plus fans....and certainly not when you don;t expect to overpay.

As a season ticket holder, I am absolutely disgusted with how this was handled.

*Applause*

I completely agree. Baseball, and the 'Stros in particular are my passion. This season is going to a brutal one to watch. All day I've had this feeling like I just went through a nasty breakup. This hurts, and if it is true that Drayton held out due to something as ignorant as a no-trade clause, (which is pretty much set in stone due to the dollars/years of the contract; how many teams besides the Yanks could afford a Beltran trade down the line?) then I might finally decide to join the anti-Drayton "What have you done to be a winner" bandwagon. This is absolutely pathetic.

The logistics excuse a joke, too. Complete idiocy.

[Mr. Mooch]

Okay I might be slow, but let me fully grasp this. The no-trade clause works like this:

If a team sucks and wants to get rid of a high-priced contract and a valuable commodity, they cannot unless the player waives his clause.

Firstly, what the hell is a "limited" no-trade clause??? Like only a certain number of teams?

So if Beltran is to be valuable to the Houston franchise for years to come, why would you want to trade him?

If the Astros sucked in 4 years and Beltran wanted out, then he would waive his no-trade clause to go to a contender (ie: Yankees).

So what was McLane's reasoning for denying a no-trade clause anyway? It couldn't be that if Beltran sucked the Astros would want to move him, could it?

Someone clarify because either I'm really dumb or McLane is. :confused:

Still, I don't buy that it boiled down to a no-trade clause issue.

[isoman2kx]

Originally posted by Mr. Mooch

Someone clarify because either I'm really dumb or McLane is. :confused:

Still, I don't buy that it boiled down to a no-trade clause issue.

I still don't believe that b.s. for a minute either

MONEY MONEY MONEY




on the other hand , I'm not sure what the hell a limited no-trade clause is either?

[Aceshigh7]

Well, if it came down to Beltran wanting a no-trade clause and Mclane refusing to give it to him like the reports are saying, then I do have to fault Mclane. That was a horrible mistake on his part if it is true.

That's a ridiculous stance to take and if that's the reason we lost Beltran, Mclane needs to address that.

[Stack24]

I don't believe the no trade clause stuff for one minute. something as minor as that could not have held up this deal from happening. I am sure we will get another version within a few days from the Astros etc...

If it was because of that then the organization slipped up in a way. If it wasn't money and it was a no trade clause then i can blame Drayton. But if it wasn't then i can blame Beltran for going for the money.

I really think that Boras is trying to save face right now that's about it. I doubt that any organization would have let a person with his talent go becuase of a no trade clause. Even the dumbest GM would know that.

[bottlerocket]

Props to Dray!

[Refman]

Originally posted by NJRocket
You people thanking this guy can't be serious.

I mean you honestly need to get a clue.

This disaster single handedly set us back at least 4 or 5 years. I don't think he's cheap....I think he's a moron. You can't go after one guy and not have a plan B...not when you come within 1 game of the World Series after never winning a playoff series in your history...not 4 months after you draw 3 million plus fans....and certainly not when you don;t expect to overpay.

As a season ticket holder, I am absolutely disgusted with how this was handled.
I think that the team has trades lined up. I think you will find some combo of Randy Winn, Shawn Estes and Alfonso Soriano here next season.

No, they aren't Beltran...but they did put up some good numbers last year and may be enough to comprise a good team.

[DaDakota]

Beltran is a good player, and has great skills, but he has never been a DOMINATE player, except in this years playoffs.

I am ok with the fact that he did not sign here, that is too much of your payroll to tie up in a career .270 hitter.

DD

[BigM]

Originally posted by Deuce Rings
Everyone loves to use the Vlad Guerrero contract as the benchmark. Given Beltran's agent, I think you should be thinking more ARod than Guerrero. And again, I'm not criticizing management for not overspending on Beltran. I'm criticizing their decision to mortgage the team's future on a chance that he might come back. Believe me, these guys had to know Beltran could get far more than they were willing to offer weeks ago. GM's have been salivating over Beltran for two freakin' years. You knew there was going to be hot competition from the richest franchises for his services. You don't draw a line in the sand when you're not holding any cards and with the Astros' deadline and no other free agents available, trust me the Astros were not holding the cards weeks ago.


drayton has to use someone like vlad or pujols to base his contract on because you can't just go in throwing money around like hicks did with arod. that's just stupid. anyways, since you clarified yourself, i do agree with your point that in dealing with boras and carlos who never made it clear he wanted to return, the astros made a huge mistake in not having somekind of backup plan in place. they got played bad and it's time to see if something else is in the works.

[gunn]

Originally posted by DaDakota
that is too much of your payroll to tie up in a career .270 hitter.

DD

Batting average is a somewhat outdated tool in terms of judging a player's worth offensively.

[fya]

Beltran wasn't going to sign here anyways. Boras was trying to get the Yanks involved in a bidding war with the Mets, hell he was offering the Yanks 20 million LESS than the Mets and they said no. Beltran wanted to be in NYC from day one. Him and Boras just used the Astros to drive up the price. Both are to blame. Mclane NEVER had a chance.

He should have went after plan "b" after Beltran declined arbitration.

[bobrek]

Originally posted by isoman2kx

on the other hand , I'm not sure what the hell a limited no-trade clause is either?

Generally a limited no trade clause allows a player to only be traded to certain teams that the player can name. I read somewhere where the Astros offered Beltran the opportunity to name 5 teams that he would accept a trade to in lieu of a complete no trade clause. This list would not have to be made until a trade is possible (in other words, Beltran would not have to name the 5 teams prior to the contract being signed.)

[bigballerj]

To sum this thread up....Drayton and the Astros got played.

The fix was in from the start and we didn't have a chance. Boras and Beltran put on a good show to make it seem like may want to be here but they knew and many of us knew all along that he wanted Betran in NYC.

Charlie Palillo summed it up best in today's afternoon show where he said that Boras probably put one rediculous demand after another to tie up the negotiations until we ran out of time.

The Astros will most likely end up near the cellar this year but they will be much better off 2-3 years down the road once the original Killer B's retire.

[Saint Louis]

The sun will come up tomorrow, bet your bottom dollar that tomrorrow; will be fine.....

[bigboymumu]

Originally posted by Buck Turgidson
Can we all just agree that DR8ON SUX and that "we" will all be better off when the consortium of Landry's Inc. and the Kroc Foundation buys the Stros?

In the spring, baseball will still be here for those that love it.

AMEN!!!! :D