A major league official who wished to remain anonymous has let some major trade fodder out of the bag... In Boston's attempt to keep Beltran from ending up in NY, they are in the process of acquiring him themselves... Here it goes... Boston receives: Carlos Beltran KC receives: Freddy Garcia and Triple-A Pitcher Cha Seung Baek Seattle receives: Johnny Damon and Byung-Hyun Kim Could the stros do better?
Beltran is just a pipe dream for the Astros fans. Where would you put him? The only way it works is to include Hidalgo in a trade, but why would KC do that? They want prospects. Another way to look at it is financially. Beltran is going to command a huge contract, one that the Astros cannot afford till after 2006. Meanwhile, we would almost certainly have to pay most of Hidalgo's $12 million to get KC to take him with a package of prospects. So we would be paying for Hidalgo to play in KC, we would have Beltran out of position in right field for 2-3 months, and unless Drayton opens up the wallet (doubtful), we lose him next year. It's just not going to happen
But Johnson had a position to play. Tell me where you are going to play Beltran, and how you are going to pay for him.
Beltran is going to get Guerrero type of money this offseason. Unless you are the Yankees or the Red Sox, you can't afford him.
Even better if CB could teach BA to hit. lalala902102001 Beltran is going to get Guerrero type of money this offseason. Unless you are the Yankees or the Red Sox, you can't afford him. Too true, too indicative of baseball's problem.
Cha Seung Baek? Any good? According to this rumor, seems like KC is willing to dump Beltran for just about anything...surprising that Seattle gets Johnny Damon and BK, but KC only gets Freddy "the Rock" Garcia and a prospect for giving up on Beltran....
Wait for the Beltran thing to play itself out this offseason. Whether or not the Astros manage a ring, Biggio could join Clemens in retirement (although both could obviously stay as well). But with Burke ready at 2nd and Lane in RF, I can almost guarantee you Hidalgo and Kent will not be brought back at anywhere near the same price. Biggio - $6-7M Clemens - $5M Hidalgo - $12M Kent - $7M Even accouting for a $5-8M payroll increase from arbitration and contract inflation, that could potentially leave $11-24 million dollars to play with without increasing the payroll. Even better, with Bagwell and Pettitte set to come off in another 3 years, the Astros could sign Beltran to a backloaded deal that would get a huge bump after the first two. It's certainly doesn't make sense as a trade inseason, but even if Biggio and Clemens return next year, we could still fit Beltran in the budget just by releasing Hidalgo and Kent. It is not impossible.
When do you plan on paying Oswalt, Miller, Dotel, and Berkman? Plus, in three more years you'll be paying or replacing Everett, Lane, Ensburg, John Buck, and Carlos Hernandez. Face it people, the Astros are not going to pay for the elite free agents. While we will pick up a Kent or a Pettitte here or there, the real crown jewels of free agency won't be coming here. This is not a knock against McLane either. I think his business model of developing your own talent and living off the loyalty of that talent is fine for the climate of today's MLB. It's working. It's not McLane's fault we can't hit a slider in the playoffs for 4 years in a row.
