As I understand things, McLane offered a "limited" trade clause which would allow Beltran to specify one of X teams he could be traded to. If I were a player, this would be the optimum deal. Not only do you get a big contract, you also get the "right" to choose what team you can be dealt to. If the teams sucks and they want to trade you, you have your pick of the litter.
I think I told some of you that I had the pleasure of meeting the chaplain for the team last year. He told me that the guys on this team who met with him were really close...Beltran, Berkman, Everett, Lidge, Palmeiro, Pettitte and others I'm forgetting right now. I think that guy felt that Beltran's close ties with guys here would keep him here. That was as close as I got to "a source" throughout that whole mess.
Old man mclane got played for a sucker and that's that. Purpura SHOULD have seen it all coming but he is new to the business so I'll cut him some slack. Beltran and Boras are both little snakes in the grass and did what they had to do, but mclane failed HORRIBLY at plan "b" if there ever was one.
Am I the only one who is glad Beltran is gone, he is not close to being worth that much money. He is a career .270 or so hitter, and great in the outfield, but he stunk for a good portion of his time in Houston, and seemed to not be the type of guy to focus all year. He would have helped a lot, but not for that kind of money. Good riddance Belty.... DD™
I don't think the situation is as dire as it was when I found out that he wasn't coming... and I'm much happier that he ended up w/ the Mets, and not the Cubs... but overall, I would have LOVED to have this guy long-term. Say what you will about his performance down the stretch of the regular season... I have never seen any ballplayer as hot as he was in the playoffs, when it really mattered the most.
The Astros won like 18 straight home games after that lost to the Cubs. Oswalt might have saved the season with that one play.
As usual on Astros threads I agree with Nick and Max. While I'm not happy we lost Beltran (anyone who performs like that in October is special), I never thought we were as bad off as people made us to be. I'm happy now because I see that Taveras has the ability, attitude and talent to be just as great a player as Beltran for a lot less dough.
i don't know if i'd go that far. but certainly the gap between the two is less than i might have thought...based solely on taveras' potential, of course. i don't think you're ever going to see beltran's power number from taveras. but you're going to get good defense in CF, a guy who seems to be able to get on base well, and lightning on the basepaths.
I don't think Beltran will be the ultimate power hitter that most people think... I think that last season was just a special one for him. He has the ability to go yard but I imagine he'll stick around the 25-35 homerun range for the next 5 years, last year was his only season above 30. Now, I know Taveras isn't going to hit 30+ homeruns, but considering that he plays half of his games in the Juice Box he can easily hit 20+ until he has time to mature. It should be noted too that Beltran's career stats aren't really that impressive, at least not 125 million dollar impressive. He had some decent home run years in his 5+ seasons in KC but he also struck a crapload in his time with KC including 3 seasons of 120+ strike outs. It took Beltran a little over 5 seasons to find his swing and patience, and I think Taveras can reach that much faster because of our veterns and Gary Gaetti. Beltran is a special player, there's not denying that... but I think Taveras has just as much raw talent as Beltran did when he came into the league... let's just hope Taveras can progress a little faster then Beltran and be just as successful.
I am not nearly as sold on Taveras as others may be. While I am quite pleased that he has been getting hits and getting on base, he certainly hasn't been stinging the ball. He has had a couple of bunts and some flairs/bloops. Taveras has never done anything in the minors to indicate he will hit home runs. His best season was 4. Even with his speed he has shown no propensity for getting extra base hits, never hitting more than 15 doubles. I hope I am wrong, but once Berkman is ready to play on an everyday basis, it would not suprise me in the least to see Taveras being the odd man out.
SVper- please don't compare Willie and Carlos...while I understand that this may be your way of accepting losing Beltran, it makes you look silly
Where is that vomit smiley when you need it? Beltran may be a nice guy or whatever. That doesn't mean he and his agent aren't greedy bastards that turned their back on the Astros (whether he was worth the money or not). He was set to become one of the next beloved athletes in the city after last postseason...but turns it down for New York where he will receive, well, different treatment the minute he goes into a slump.
The initial Beltran fervor was insane with the NY press. It's died down now, as the Yankees are king here and dominate the back sports cover of the Post/Daily News. I was speaking more about Mets fans (many of which I work with) and their newfound "Beltran = God" attitude. They need to STFU in the worst way. (God, you'd think a 2-5 record would silence them, but you'd be wrong.)
Whether or not he'd have stayed.. I dont' really care. Stars get a no trade clause...especially when you want them to take less money than being offered by another team.. Whether or not it was really an issue, I don't know.. but it should never have been GIVEN a chance to be an issue.
That's just my opinion though, I'm sure many of you disagree. As for the article, it's hard to tell how the players really feel. There seem to be a lot of classy players on the astros team, and I doubt many of them would bash him in public even if they were mad at him.. On the other hand, they are players and know as well as anyone that it's about money in the end a lot of the times.. so they might understand.
What was that line about a camel going through the eye of a needle.. Whoops gonna get this thead moved to the D & D. I have a good friend in NYC who is a lifelong Mets fan and he wasn't happy at all with the Beltran and Pedro signings. He felt the Mets were spending too much to an aging inconsistent pitcher and a fielder and hitter who while having an amazing playoff run has yet to be proven to be a franchise player over the long run.
