Why the heck are people blaming Beltran? He wants more money, just like any of us would prefer more money to less. Drayton McLane is the person to blame here. He tried to low-ball one of the best players in the game -- and got burned for it. Drayton had the chance of a lifetime to secure a cornerstone of the Astros for years to come. Instead of pulling the trigger, he tried to save a buck and in so doing, screwed the entire franchise. You have to pay to play, Drayton, when will you learn that? How many marquee players must you lose before you realize that we'll never make the World Series? Seriously, SELL THE ****ING TEAM TO AN OWNER WHO IS NOT A MISER. PLEASE.
You guys sound like a bunch of jilted girlfriends. Frankly, I think it's partly your own faults for getting your hopes up and believing the reports that said that Houston was the frontrunner for Beltran. I don't remember any direct quotes from him saying that he would prefer playing for Houston over any other team. You guys are acting like a bunch of ingrates. You would not have even made the playoffs without Beltran, much less make it to game 7 of the NLCS. I wouldn't be surprised if some of you guys react the same way if Roger retires. But then again, this is all coming from a Yankees fan... And when we really want someone, we get him.
maybe it's not a difference of 115M vs. 105M, but rather the historic significance of a substantial Puerto Rican community in NYC. Not a whole lot of bland food with fried bananas in Houston. Had he been a Mexican wunderkind, perhaps the odds would have ultimately favored the 'Stros. Oh well. They need to rebuild anyway... Trammel and Whitaker knew it was time to quit eventually, as did Tony Gwynn, Paul Molitor, Robin Yount, Ripken... ad infinitum. Get used to it- try to swing a trade for your old guys, let Bags finish in a Red Sox uni, let Biggio do whatever. This is McLane, not Steinbrenner- his money doesn't earn as much. Try to be more of an A's or Twins-style franchise and see what the future brings.
What y'all should really want is for A-Rod to take some acting lessons because it would have came in handy when he knocked that ball out of the Red Sox's player's glove.
what a load of crap. isn't our offer with the cost of living factored in actually higher then the mets? when did a $100+ million contract become a lowball offer? it's a good bit more then vlad guerrero got last year and by the way he's been better for longer then carlos. i'm totally not against drayton selling this team to a bigger spender but i don't see how this could be on the astros at all. we simply got played by a guy who didn't want to be here and an ass of an agent.
My hatred for Boras (though if I was sober, I'd say he's just doing his job) pretty much exceeds everyone except of rmaybe Karl Malone......though if the m-e-t-s signed him to a 7 year contract, iwon't feel as bad b/c other guys will be availalbe. now we can rebuild cleanly at least and in 2 years, when biggio, bagwell are off the books, be ready to compete. Till then, more beer, more byatches, and more bad games...the new Killer Bs....
No, you expect Beltran to take a hometown discount just like McLane expected. This is WRONG. If you want a player -- SHOW IT. Pay him. Don't make a $70mm opening offer in hopes of low-balling the guy. McLane thinks he can get all these players on the cheap. Guess what, it's not working. The Mets ponied up and offered the cash. The Astros did not. It's that simple. McLane just wiped clean the goodwill he accumulated with Astros fans following the 2004 post season run. Cheapskates don't win World Series. You have to pay to play, Drayton. You have been unwilling to do that for years. An agent's job is to get the most money for his client. Period. Boras doesn't play by some system of loyalty or hometown discounts. That's absurd. Drayton McLane had the chance to sign Carlos Beltran. He failed. End of story. The blame rests at Drayton's feet.
This truly sucks, but at least the astros tried their best to get him. I was mad that he didn't sign with us at first but now I'm grateful that at least he got to play for us in the playoffs. I'm still not sure why he didn't choose to play for the astros. Man this sucks. Maybe next time the Astros make another trade in the middle of the season, we will get a player that finally gets us to the World Series.
In short, the Stros' strategy of letting Boras dictate the whole matter from the get-go given this agent's history with his collection of premium FA's. I can't remember which Chronicle reporter wrote a piece on this (Lopez or Justice, whoever), but like that writer I believe the interest of the Stros would have been best served if McLane put the "significant" offer upfront $105mil/7 years (whatever) and dictated the deadlines. No one player is more important than the ballclub. In this way, Stros would have won the PR front, could have been active player in the FA market to plug the RBI holes and would have been applauded in the league and us fans for taking charge. Now, we are left with a team that lost the meat of its RBI production in Kent (nothing to do with this) and Beltran and no immediate or proven successors. Just to bring up old stuff again, with the money thrown at Beltran, Finley and Beltre (despite being a Boras' man) could have been potential signees. In fact, I'm over Beltran now. Orignally he was only a half-season rental anyway. I hope he enjoys playing for the lesser of the NY teams because there's no way the Mets are a play-off team this year. Let's hope Clemens returns, Oswalt and Petite comes back to full-strength and Bracke and Hernandez becomes legit #4 and #5 starters. Brandon Webb could have been a nice set-up man to Lidge. Hope this explains.
I wish Beltran the worst. Ive never been the type to boo an opposing player. Usually, Im just too lazy to do that. When Beltran comes to town, Im taking batteries with me. Its worth it to get arrested. I hope the guy suffers the worst injury possible. Screw him. *edit* I hope the injury that i was referring to involves a fastball that dislodges his face. Maybe Clemens can come back and accomplish that.
our final offer to carlos was nowhere near $70mm and had it been you would see alot more people agreeing with you but i think even people who are critical of drayton know that this is not on him. when did i say that i expected beltran to take a hometown discount? i just completely disagree that $100mm + is a low-ball deal for a player of beltran's talent. i don't blame boras for doing his job but frankly beltran is not the best player in baseball and any deal SIGNIFICANTLY higher then what the astos offered is grossly overpaying for him. yes it SEEMED like the astros were in a position to re-sign him but no one here knows. carlos never made any strong comments about coming back and never even allowed the astros to meet with him while the mets rolled out the red-carpet. it might be a few days if at all before we know any more details but as far what the stros offered i said before that if he didn't take that i'd be fine with letting him walk. i don't think he's worth more.
Man Beltran... what a jerk. Screw it, who gives a damn. This guy only gives effort when he knows he can get something outta it. He was never sincere all season, and only showed up at the playoffs to boost his stock. Plenty of reasons why we shouldn't lose any sleep over this. Astros did all they could.. they were right not to go overboard and pay for it in the future. mets are gonna have fun trying to juggle all the useless salaries they're gonna have in the next year or two (Martinez, Beltran, Mo Vaughn). -nos
are you f*cking serious?!?!?!? stop kidding yourself, pal...... we got HOSED. PERIOD. the guy didn't have to wait until all of our other options were completely spent to make his decision, especially if this deal has very little to do w/ money. i don't want to sound like an a$$hole or anything, but don't be such a p***y. who gives a flying f*ck what "memories" we have of him in an astros uniform; he turned all that away. the city of Houston showed nothing but LOVE for this guy, and he goes right behind our back like a rat. he knew we were putting all our chips with him and he turns around and f*cks us anyways...... AT THE LAST POSSIBLE MOMENT. sorry man, but that COMPLETELY negates everything.
