The market softened because Boras had tricked the Rangers into bidding against themsleves....there was no bid within 100mil of the Rangers....the Rangers obviously overpaid
I don't think Kent, Pettitte, Clemens, etc. would have considered the Stros without their Texas roots. All taking discounts as well. It does seem true, I can't remember a big time player signing in Houston unless we offered more than anyone else or they had a house, family here, etc.
Exactly, I was thinking about them when posting...but yeah, even Kent's entire projection of potentially coming to Houston or the Rangers was based on being from Texas and all. Kent came over at the end of his prime, and the other 2 towards the end of their respective careers.. slightly different with Beltran just entering his prime. I mean, I see how Kent was good at the time and all...but if Kent was 27 with a huge season behind him, I think he would've been looking for a long-term deal and not really looked at Houston
I think Boras will steer Beltran to whichever team offers the largest total contract, regardless of other factors. Once he's secured that $150,000,000+ dollar contract, he can always maneuver and force a trade to get Beltran to a team of his choice if he's not happy. If Anaheim offers $180,000,000 and everyone else offers $150,000,000, I think he'll sign with Anaheim. Once Anaheim starts sucking, Boras will move him to the Yankees or Red Sox. Yankees or Red Sox will probably even get a discount. That's pretty much what Boras did with ARod's $250,000,000 contract. Rangers even had to pay $70,000,000 to the Yankees to get out of underneath that contract. Rangers: $145,000,000 over 3 years = about $48,000,000 per year = 3 last place finishes Yankees: $105,000,000 over 7 years = about $15,000,000 per year = 1 ALCS appearance so far So in the end, ARod didn't have to choose between the money and playing for a winner. He got both.
http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=knight-ringolsbyborasisanagentfo&prov=knight&type=lgns Major league teams are allowed to begin talking contract terms with free agents today. Don't hold your breath.Teams aren't in a hurry anymore. And it's just as well. Boras is in charge this year, more than ever. The second- largest group of free agents - 207, four short of last year's rec- ord-setting total - are on the market, and Boras is the agent for 11 of them, including two of the more attractive free agents in recent years, third baseman Adrian Beltre, who will turn 26 in April, and outfielder Carlos Beltran, who will turn 28 in April. They are what Boras calls "icon players," replacing the phrase "special players," which once dotted his vocabulary. Boras will use his new phrase to try to leverage the type of contract to which teams agree, then, months later, start to wonder how they ever got talked into the deals. Boras has talked about 10-year contracts for Beltre and Beltran. And Boras, whose free-agent clients also include right-handed pitchers Derek Lowe and Kevin Millwood, catcher Jason Varitek and outfielders J.D. Drew and Magglio Ordoñez, was ready to make his pitch during the general managers meetings this week. "Icon players have proven to be great investments for their businesses," Boras said. "Large commitments to the game's best players have advanced the industry and all the teams' profits. They give their franchise a status and draw people to the ballpark." Well, sometimes, but not always. Ask the Texas Rangers, whose owner, Tom Hicks, got caught up in the excitement of the 2000 winter meetings being in his town, Dallas, bit on Boras' pitch for Alex Rodriguez and signed the shortstop to a record-setting, 10-year, $252 million deal. Three years later, Rodriguez was shipped to the New York Yankees, but by the time Hicks ate enough money to make Rodriguez's contract acceptable for even free-spending George Steinbrenner, the Rangers had spent $140 million for three years of Rodriguez's service. It should be noted, the Rangers' attendance declined every year Rodriguez was there. It's not unlike what happened with Colorado, which, that same winter, made Mike Hampton, who wasn't represented by Boras, the highest- paid pitcher in history. The Rockies gave him a seven- year, $121 million deal, and after two successive losing seasons and dwindling attendance, they pieced together a deal to unload him. Boras, however, continues to move forward, well aware of how to play up to the owners' egos as he did with Hicks four years ago. What also works in Boras' favor is he's willing to wait, which means it most likely is going to be January before a serious dent is made in the free-agent market. Boras doesn't panic, and he works the rules. Atlanta fell victim two years ago. Greg Maddux filed for free agency. The Braves offered him arbitration. No team offered the multiyear deal Boras and Maddux wanted. Maddux accepted the arbitration, which resulted in a $14.75 million salary, and the Braves were forced to deal Millwood to stay within budget constraints. THE YANKEES, of course, are mentioned prominently in talks about Beltran, but former teammates indicate Beltran's desire is to sign with Anaheim. Boras has told Kansas City owner David Glass, whose team traded Beltran to Houston in June, and Astros owner Drayton McLane that neither team has a chance to sign the outfielder. Los Angeles, meanwhile, has set re-signing Beltre as its No. 1 priority, which will be interesting in light of Boras' proclamation that Beltre's 2004 performance was "the greatest season ever for a third baseman." NO TEAM has been affected more by free agency this off-season than the champion Boston Red Sox. Eleven of their players have filed, including Varitek, Lowe, right-handed pitcher Pedro Martinez and shortstop Orlando Cabrera. And even before trying to re-sign any of those players, the Red Sox already have $85.27 million committed to 12 players, including Manny Ramirez ($20 million) and Curt Schilling ($14.5 million). ATLANTA DOESN'T figure to be a major player in free agency. The Braves believe they need a starting pitcher, quality reliever and right fielder. General manager John Schuerholz has only $4 million to play with. That's life with AOL/Time Warner, which is 100 percent business, unlike the old days, when owner Ted Turner might set a budget but wouldn't hesitate to open the checkbook if he found an appealing deal. ________________________ The bold part isn't very reassuring.
I'd walk away from any and all Scott Boras clients, because they'll end up overpriced. There are a number of good free agents out there, if Beltran won't take our money then we should use it elsewhere (catcher, SS, CF, RP). And do this before the rest of the good free agents have signed elsewhere.
Hmmm...smells like a bait for a team (Rangers with A-Rod) to throw crazy money out. Just make a good/decent offer and let the chips fall where they may....
From ESPN Insider: 2. Where will Carlos Beltran sign – and for how much? Responses: Yankees 8, Angels 3, Cubs 2, Orioles 1, No Earthly Idea 1. Amount: Somewhere between $12-15 million a year. Beltran is similar in some ways to last year's big free agent, Vladimir Guerrero. He's in the prime of his career at age 27 and is a phenomenal two-way talent. He's also quiet and reserved by nature, well-liked by teammates, and largely anonymous on a national stage. Here are two notable differences: Beltran hit .435 in the playoffs and tied Barry Bonds' postseason record with eight home runs, so he's shown he can produce in October. And his agent, Scott Boras, will be quick to get the Yankees involved to drive up the price. Last year, it was taken as an article of faith that Guerrero didn't want to play in New York, and his agent, Fern Cuza, did little to publicly dispel that notion. People around the Astros say Beltran isn't a New York guy – that he's temperamentally suited to a more low-key environment than New York. But he's only going to get $100 million-plus in a big-market. The question is whether Beltran is fixated on getting 10 years and nine figures, or if that's strictly a vision of his agent. "It depends on who works for who," said a National League assistant GM. "If Beltran works for Scott Boras, he's going to be in New York. If Scott works for Beltran, I think he'll wind up somewhere else. I just don't know how much Beltran is going to be involved in the process." An American League executive thought it was telling when Boras dropped hints that Bernie Williams would move off center field to create a spot for Beltran in the Bronx. "I think he was basically tipping everybody off that the big boys are going to be playing on this one, and Bernie was OK with moving over," said the front office man. "To me, there was an issue there." While it won't surprise anyone if Boras asks for 10 years and $200 million, most officials think that's pie in the sky. Insider's top estimate for Beltran was seven years at $105 million, or slightly more than the Cardinals paid Albert Pujols last spring. 7 years, $105 million? Hey, no problem! Draw up the contract right now, Drayton!
http://www.nypost.com/sports/mets/33958.htm NY Post article...looks like is big game hunting season! Mets and Yanks now bidding.....uh oh!
Scott Boras is blowing so much smoke up his ass that he could start a million fires. He's just playing the media. Within two days we have a report on Fox 26 sports(Berman) that meetings between Boras and Houston were very productive, and in the mainstream media Boras spouts off that the Astros and the Royals(gee big shock here scott on KC) have no chance. Not to mention the Bernie Williams fiasco in this whole ordeal. I just don't buy it. Regardless of where Beltran signs. the Astros are going to be a significant player for his services. I'm just appalled at some of the journalism on this issue of late. One AP article about Bernie moving aside for Carlos made it sound like Beltran was already a Yankee through the way it was written. Then on ESPN's website, there is a poll where will Beltran sign: Yankees, Angels, Orioles, Cubs, no idea. Uh, guys there is a team missing in that list that has to be on that poll.
ESPN polled some general managers on where they predicted that Beltran will sign. There was not a list of teams provided, the GMs simply offered their opinions as to where they thought Beltran would go. None of those asked thought he would land in Houston. That's no surprise.
No, I didn't. I'm just pointing out the atrocious journalism that is going on. If there actually was a good comparable sports network to ESPN I would watch it first, but that will never happen. And ESPN did this exact same thing last year with Andy Pettitte's free agency. They did an interview with Jeter the last few days of negotiations and basically allowed him to plead for Andy to remain a Yankee on their national network. Of course this is the same network that is using "Dream Job" to hire new journalistic talent, so I shouldn't expect anything less.
You are right, they did use only Crasnick's list as basis for the poll, but regardless the Astros have to be an option(whether or not the GM's listed them). It makes it look really stupid/tacky otherwise, which it does.
top 50 free agents from espn.........carlos is #1 and predicted to going to the yankees. troy glaus at #13 is redicted to play for us and would be a nice pick up at 3rd
i would love to have troy glaus. love love love to have troy glaus!! that would be a great pickup for us. alongside beltran, of course!!
Of course the Astros are an option but if you go to 14 GMs and ask "Where do you think Beltran will end up" and none of them say Houston, then it's not a reflection of ESPN. Crasnick did not have a list. His question was: "Where will Carlos Beltran sign - and for how much?"
Glaus would be a major upgrade if healthy, but it'll be a bad offseason if we pick up 1 piece (Glaus) at a loss of 2 superior ones (Kent and Beltran). And, of course, Ensberg and Lamb are both cheaper and adequate. I'd love to make a run at Varitek or Drew.
