All I'm saying is that we've had bad luck in Houston with big, long contracts. That's all I'm saying.
Couldn't live with the thought of not having Mo Taylor? Most here thought he sucked the second we signed him.
http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=1955012 Houston Astros: While the Mets are making a move on Carlos Beltran, the Astros expect to know whether the star outfielder's decision soon. "We told him we certainly needed an answer by the latter part of this week," McLane told the Houston Chronicle for Tuesday's editions. The team has until Jan. 8 to re-sign Beltran, but expects to know before then whether he'll return. "Scott [Boras, Beltran's agent] told Tim [Purpura, Houston's GM]and [president of baseball operations] Tal [Smith] that it would not go to that Jan. 8 deadline," McLane told the Chronicle. The Yankees, Tigers and Cubs have also expressed interest in Beltran.
ESPN is reporting that Randy Johnson may still be going to the Yankees. Seems like this would help us some.
They also keep reporting that Beltran is going to be there with Randy...but i won't hold them to anything until i see it....have to keep the faith lol
***********UPDATE************ 610am is reporting that the Astros have upped their offer. Apparently, the original offer was 5 years, $70 MIL. The Astros have added a 6th year (team option) with a $5 MIL buyout. So total value right now is minimum, $75 MIL and maximum, $82 MIL. Sounds solid to me.
What I don't understand is that it seems like Scott Boras is the driving force behind where Beltran will sign. From reports, it sounds like Beltran really wants to be with Houston...if this is the case, why drag this out. I know Boras wants to get the most for his client, but it seems like there's a bit of a conflict of interest where Boras is wanting to get the most for himself and not really caring for what Beltran ultimately wants. I could be completely wrong...I don't know all of the inside stories, but it would be nice if Beltran told Boras that he wanted to be in Houston no matter what and to just get the maximum amount of cash possible. I'm keeping my fingers crossed on this one...I think Beltran is a special talent and could be a cornerstone for the organization for the future (and present).
Agents are the strawmen, one of the functions they serve is to allow a player to negotiate for every last dollar without the negative ramifications of appearing to be greedy. Trust me, Boras is doing exactly what Beltran wants him to do. And if Beltran did tell him to do what you said (Houston, for as much money as possible) that fact would certainly never be uttered outside the agent's office. They would give up all bargaining power in doing so. There is no "conflict of interest" - Boras is operating entirely in Beltran's interest, at Beltran's orders.
This was reported by Fox 26 on Sunday night I believe. I just don't know if it is going to be enough if the Yankees really are going to give him a Giambi type deal. I know we really shouldn't pay that much for him, but that, nevertheless leaves us in a bind for next season.
Noted with glee in my heart. I'll remember how much we wanted him as he's making a diving grab while running up Tal's Hill in the World Series.
Um, no. Nice try though. I just choose to look deeper than what the media says in my analysis of situations. This years coverage of the Carlos Beltran free agency is eerily comparable to the pathetic coverage of the Andy Pettitte free agency a year ago from the national media, especially ESPN. And, yes, I can be wrong, no sweat off my back, but right now there isn't any substiantial evidence to convince me that the Astros aren't serious leaders in the clubhouse for Beltran's services. Back to the comments Beltran made last week. I guess he just randomly chose to speak his mind for no reason then, but not at any other point of any of these negotiations. That makes sense I guess I should just obviously believe him, instead of actually delving deeper into way he might talk to the press now. And the gap in the days between the PR article and the meeting leaves a lot to be desired. If you don't think so, you are naive. A lot of stuff about those comments just doesn't add up and I'm not going to sit here blindly and act like Carlos just randomly decided to talk for the first time all offseason then and there, without a reason. Furthermore, Scott Boras does things Scott Boras's way. He sure as heck knows when Carlos talks to the press and why he is talking right now. And the fact his comments fly in the face of numerous reports(by teammates) this season and offseason that Beltran does not want to play in New York only adds to the curiousness of his statements. Then you have the Mets. They decide what the heck, we'll get involved on january 3rd(the beginning of next week, when they are said to be scheduling a meeting with Beltran). But I sincerely doubt Scott Boras wants this dragging out beyond the 8th. That's not a lot of time for them to do what they need to do then, is it? However, I would never say never with Boras, but if he were to actually pull a stunt like this, letting the Yankees/Mets wait until the other interested party can't sign him anymore, he would be villified and teams would respond accordingly, I figure. Again I could be wrong, i'm just giving my opinion. Anyways, we are 10 days away from D-Day and neither NY team has an official, reported offer on the table. Either Scott Boras is playing the Astros for fools or these teams just aren't as interested as the media would have you believe. Which is it? And at the time of the comments(and now still) Scott Boras had exactly one reported offer for his premier client. That's reason enough for Beltran to speak days after the NY meeting in my opinion. Without a documented offer, he has no way besides playing up New York to get any of his other suitors to increase the money in their offers at this time. Closer to January 8th, that changes, obviously, but the Astros seem firm on their offer right now. His other suitor being Houston of course. Heaven forbid I produced a perfectly logical scenario here. Unlike the national media, which only exists to say that whatever George Steinbrenner wants, Georgie gets even when all evidence flies in face of it, I can use logic to base conclusions. And pardon me for thinking that the fact Beltran became a free agent in early November along with the fact that it's December 29th and neither NY team has offered him a contract, means something. Somehow new Yankees Carl Pavano, Jaret Wright, and Tony Womack got contract offers before Carlos Beltran. Yet the public should just believe the Yankees get to wait till whenever they want to offer anyone they want. Please. The media reports at least a week ago that the Mets want to speak with Beltran. It's now ten days before the last day the Astros can sign him and there is no urgency in meeting with him(setting it up for January 3rd proves that). The only other explanation besides the idea that these teams are not that interested/Carlos wants Houston, is that Boras would have the gall to actually wait until January 9th to get those offers. Heck, the A-Rod signing was done on December 11th, and that had just as many, if not more, teams involved. And A-Rod is a better player than Beltran. I have a hard time believing any agent, even Scott Boras, could pull a stunt like that. It's very hard to fathom, period. But if there is one agent that could do so, it would be Boras. If January 8th comes and goes and nothing happens, I was wrong, Scott Boras is officially the worst form of scum in the universe. Right now however, I choose to not believe that, based upon facts such as Boras was the one wanting to meet with George, not the other way around. And if I am wrong I can and will admit it, but I see no reason right now to believe that the Astros won't win out in the Beltran sweepstakes. If something like a real reported offer from NY comes out soon I'll change my stance accordingly, but as of now, that hasn't happened yet. Personally, I think he(Boras) is just dragging this out as long as he can until the 8th because he wants to see what develops. I sincerely doubt the 8th comes and goes without Beltran signing somewhere, and right now that somewhere seems to point to Houston. Lastly, of course I want him back. But if all the evidence said the Yankees were offering much more money, he wouldn't grant Houston the time of day to meet with him, then yes I would concede he is gone. But that isn't happening in this case, not yet at least.
Furthermore, here is a FoxSports article about the Yanks signing Jaret Wright, and the last part contains some very interesting Carlos Beltran information. http://msn.foxsports.com/story/3282392 Yankees finalize $21 million deal with Wright Story Tools: Print Email Associated Press Posted: 9 hours ago NEW YORK (AP) - Free agent Jaret Wright and the New York Yankees finalized a $21 million, three-year contract Wednesday, announcing the deal on the pitcher's 29th birthday. "It's probably the best birthday present you could ever get," Wright said on a conference call from California. "I've been looking forward to something like this for a long time." Wright was 15-8 with a 3.28 ERA for Atlanta last season, then lost both of his starts in the first round of the playoffs against Houston. The right-hander is 52-45 with a 5.09 ERA in a career that began in 1997 with Cleveland and nearly ended because of shoulder trouble. Wright and the Yankees reached a preliminary agreement Dec. 7. Because he twice had surgery on his right shoulder, the Yankees put him through an extensive physical. "I think everybody would've liked for it to go smoother," Wright said. Wright said his shoulder has felt fine for three years. Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said last season represented a "significant step" for Wright in his emergence as pitcher with power and finesse. Since losing to Boston in the AL championship series, New York also has added free-agent pitcher Carl Pavano to the rotation and tried to work out a trade for Arizona ace Randy Johnson. "The belief here is we're going into spring training with a much stronger rotation than we ended last season," Cashman said. Wright's contract calls for annual salaries of $7 million. If he is on the disabled list because of a shoulder injury for a combined 75 days or more during the first two years, the Yankees can opt out of his salary for 2007 and pay a $4 million buyout. If he doesn't go on the DL for 75 days or more because of a shoulder injury during the first two years, the third season becomes a player option. If Wright decides to end the contract after two years and become a free agent again, he would not get the buyout. The Yankees have talked a couple of times this week with Arizona about Johnson, but Cashman said, "I have nothing to report on the trade front." Cashman also said the Yankees probably would decide in the next week how to proceed with free-agent center fielder Carlos Beltran. "We have to decide if we are going to be a player in this," Cashman said.
Ouch! I don't think that's what Boras wanted us to hear. I also don't believe the Mets have any intention on signing Beltran. Boras proabably figured while he was in New York, he might as well take a quick visit and introduce Beltran to Omar Minyona. Boras probably even bought Omar a $50 dollar steak just to have a lunch with him for appearences sake. This being just a simple strategy to give the appearances that now 2 high salary teams are intereted in his client. Whether we sign Beltran or not, i have lost the little shred of dignity i had left for Boras. He has already ruined any chances of us signing Miller, Alou, or Finely because he keeps wating for the price on Beltran to go up.
all due respect...but i sincerely doubt that. boras is running the show. that's his reputation. that's what he does. and a lot of agents are very similar, particularly when the clients are pro baseball players who haven't the first clue of business acumen or contracts, in general. agents play the role as babysitters..."i'll get you the deal." boras has been there done that...he's the one giving out advice. this is beltran's first big contract. i doubt seriously he's calling any shots.
I think you are overstating Beltran's naivete. You think he really had no idea about Boras's reputation when he hired the guy? Nobody would hire Scott Boras if they didn't want a tough, hard-line negotiator who got every last penny out of teams and brokered the biggest contracts in baseball. Beltran hired a tough negotiator because that's what he wanted, and he'd get rid of the guy if he thought he was doing a poor job. I don't know about your practice, but I run every big decision by my clients. I go to trial if my clients want me to go to trial. I settle if they want me to settle. I offer more money if they've OK'd a larger amount, and keep them posted at all times in terms of case developments. Day-to-day case management is done by the firm, but the client always is involved in big decisions. I really doubt that sports agents work much differently.
