If the Astros are to retain Beltran, we need to break the bank. Anything less than 15 mil per year is not going to get it done. I don't think that the Cubs have much of a chance of getting Beltran. Their budget is quite tight, especially after they failed to make the playoffs and those extra few million dollars. The Yankees WILL get Beltran IF they really want to. After all, they literally bought a pennat this year. However, I for one am not convinced that the Yankees will make Beltran their top FA target. I think that their priority is to sign a top-flight starting pitcher. This may leave a window of opportunity for the Astros. We should throw as much as we can offer in Carlos' way right at the beginning of FA signing period. Do whatever you can to lock him up before the Evil Empire can make a move. It's a 50-50 shot IMO.
yeah...we said that about vlad guerrero last year, too. didn't happen. the player still has to WANT to play there. who knows how carlos feels on that?
I've heard recently from a friend who still has Astros connections that Beltran is an intensely private guy (like a Vlad Guerrero), and that he dispises attention off the field. If this is true, I think our chances improve dramatically b/c NY is the media capitol of the world and Chicago is the third largest market as well. Like MadMax says, not everyone WANTS to play in NY...not for any price. If what my friend tells me about his personality is true, I've got to believe that a clubhouse dominated by the low-key approach of guys like Bagwell, Biggio and Oswalt is exactly what Beltran is looking for. If Drayton can come up with a competitive offer (5 yrs $75M sounds about right), I've got to believe Carlos will stay.
Yankees Rumors: Source: Daily News: Just throwing this out there. I'd love to see Beltran sign here, but playing for a contender AND making loads of money AND playing with Bernie Williams may swing it for Carlos.
Wasn't sure where to post this, but here's a great read from the NY Times: October 18, 2004 SERIES IS TIED, 2-2 Dogged Astros Refocus Eyes on Texas By LEE JENKINS OUSTON, Oct. 17 - The pitching coach who has been in professional baseball for 40 years thought the ball was too low. The relief pitcher who has been on major league mounds for more than a decade feared it would bounce on the plate. Even the rookie catcher who was making a spot start positioned himself to block a wild pitch. Carlos Beltran had to be crazy to swing. The only way a human being could hit that ball was with a sand wedge. The only way he could see it was with eyes on his shoe tops. But Beltran has reached that magical place every baseball player craves to visit at least once. His swing is so grooved that he could probably hit a pebble. His eyes are so sharp that he could pick a contact lens out of the air. As the pitch broke, from low to lower, Beltran threw the fat of the bat to the bottom of the strike zone and let confidence carry it. That he located the ball was a testament to his vision. That he struck it was a statement about his coordination. But what came afterward was a display of fundamental batting. Instead of raising his eyes to chart the course of the ball, as many power hitters are prone to do, Beltran kept his head down, trained on the hitting zone, ensuring that he saw the pitch from beginning to end. When he finished his swing, Beltran had lost track of the ball, so he focused instead on the Houston Astros' bullpen. Only when the relief pitchers leapt into one another's arms Sunday could he join the celebration of a seventh-inning home run that pushed the Astros to a 6-5 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 4 of the National League Championship Series. The series is tied, 2-2. The Astros, who lost the first two games of the series, and the Cardinals meet again Monday night. "I was flying," Beltran said. "What a great feeling. I wish I could do this every day." Actually, he is doing it every day. Beltran has set a major league record with home runs in five consecutive postseason games and has tied the record for postseason homers, eight, set by Barry Bonds in 2002. Bonds hit his in 17 games; Beltran has hit his in nine. With his streaked hair, pearly teeth and polished persona, Beltran can come across like baseball's pop star. No one in any industry is hotter. He is batting .538 in the N.L.C.S. after batting .455 in the division series. As Houston Manager Phil Garner said, "I think I've said all the good things I can possibly say about somebody." And that was before Beltran came to the plate with the score tied at 5-5 in the seventh inning. Julian Tavarez, the St. Louis reliever, threw two sliders to Beltran. The third one was practically in the dirt. When Tavarez saw Beltran golf it to right field, he thought it would be a fly ball. Then he feared it might go in the gap. When the ball sailed over the fence, everybody in the visiting dugout did a double take. "I've never seen a hitter do that," Dave Duncan, the Cardinals' pitching coach, said. "It's four or five inches off the ground and he hits it 390 feet." Tavarez called it unbelievable. "There's no way to explain it," he said. "I have never seen somebody have this kind of postseason. After that, I lost my control. It was stupid what I did." Tavarez, who has had bouts of temper, went 3-0 on Jeff Bagwell, threw a pitch over his head and got into a shouting match with him. Then he uncorked a wild pitch, and he hit Jeff Kent with a breaking ball on an 0-2 count. When Tavarez finally escaped the inning, he screamed at himself while walking off the field and went on a rampage in the dugout, throwing every piece of equipment and furniture he could find. The tantrum was replayed on the scoreboard at Minute Maid Park, prompting St. Louis Manager Tony La Russa to say, "That was disappointing and it was below their standards." The Cardinals had reasons to be crushed. They took a three-run lead in the first inning, got a two-run home run from Albert Pujols and got to Roy Oswalt for five runs. But they blew it all in the sixth, when Lance Berkman took advantage of the Little League dimensions in left field for a home run. Then Jose Vizcaino and Raul Chavez, the No. 7 and No. 8 hitters in the lineup, teamed for the tying run on Chavez's bloop single. The Astros might have won this game even if they had used only the top six hitters. The Nos. 2 through 4 batters in the lineup reached base 10 of 12 times, and Beltran spooked St. Louis every time he came to the plate. In the fifth, Jason Marquis got ahead of Beltran with a quick strike, but he kept throwing over to first base as if he did not want to face Beltran. La Russa, known for his unorthodox moves, pulled Marquis in the middle of the count. No middle reliever could hold the lead for the Cardinals, but the Astros were able to turn to their closer, Brad Lidge, who logged his second two-inning save in two days. Under normal circumstances, Lidge would have qualified as a star of the game, but on this day, attention quickly shifted back to Beltran. He did not start the season with the Astros and probably will not report to spring training with them next year, but he is supplying Houston with its greatest baseball run. At the same time, he is setting himself up for life. Beltran, due to become a free agent this winter, is using the postseason as a personal showcase and drawing traffic to the Web site KeepBeltran.com. Heading into this year, Beltran was known as one of the best players on one of the worst teams. He would spend spring training with the Kansas City Royals marking tennis balls with numbers, then shooting them out of ball machines at speeds reaching 150 miles an hour. Beltran's goal was not simply to make contact. He also wanted to be able to read the numbers. At this point, the numbers are out of sight for everyone but him. http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/18/sports/baseball/18cards.html
Just to throw this out there, the www.keepbeltran.com site is already getting yankee trolls. I've already pitched our billboard idea and listed the petition. A little support would be nice though. I mean there's a game tonight so it's not like any of y'all are actually working or anything.
Maybe we should sign the guy that MSNBC is talking about... READ THE HEADING: "Beltan, Astros try for 3-2 NLCS lead" http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6274676/ Beltan??? Nice one MSNBC...
BUMP! (for those who haven't signed the petition... sign MO'FO's!!!! ) http://www.petitiononline.com/CBeltran/petition.html
Somebody translate this: http://www.petitiononline.com/13oct04t/petition.html and tell me why it is more popular on the main page than Beltran's petition... that sh*t has 10000 posts!
I say someone starts a deal where everyone in Houston which is like over 2 million people donates a dollar or whatever they want, to a Save the Beltran Fund. That money can go to Drayton to give mr Beltran a nice signing bonus and show him how much we love him as an Astro. Now if this would only work
The only way to become a BIGGER market is to spend BIGGER money on a BIGGER player. Re-Sign Beltran!!!
