Thats what I was thinking.....It will come down to what he wants more, not who has the most money on the line..
Wow. Randy Johnson deal went south? Let's pray my source is wrong about Beltran, too (the whole "Cubs first" thing).
Domino effect? PS. I hate when folks come on TV and Radio to say a deal is done when it is not. Jeeez...I feel like strangling someone at ESPN.....starting with that guy called kurk-something. by the way, DePodesta sounds and comes accross like a moran [sic].
Just heard from a friend that the Yankees are NOT going to be going after Beltran after all. I don't know how good the source is. Also, somebody up here in NY said they heard on WFAN earlier that Beltran with the Yankees is a dead deal. HOPEFULLY GOOD NEWS FOR THE ASTROS!!!!
Don't get me wrong, but I love Carlos Beltran as much as the next guy, but we can't wait forever on this guy. We're waiting on thsi guy why all of the good free agents are going to other teams. We lost Kent. We lost Miller. We're waiting on Clemens. We're waiting on Beltran. This isn't exactly the winter I was hoping for thus far. We have to get this team together and get it together soon before it's too late.
I don't have inside info, but I don't really think Beltran was anything more than a passing fancy by George. Every article connected to the Yankees and Beltran showed the clubs ambivalence towards signing him. And unlike others, I took the January 9th thing that got so many fans upset to mean exactly that, and Boras is the one painted in a corner, not the Astros. Right now Scotty boy has no leverage. None. That is why HE initiated the meeting with Steinbrenner because right now it's the Astros and only the Astros serious about Carlos. Exactly the same thing with all the Sosa talks heating up stuff. And what is not mentioned about any Sosa deal is that the Cubs are not going to get salary relief out of the deal, as they will have to pay the majority of his contract in any possible trade. I applaud the Astros for the way they have handled Boras. This is the exact opposite of what Tom Hicks and the Rangers did with A-Rod, and I seriously doubt the Astros don't have other players in the wings after the Beltran shoe drops. No GM is that naive, and Purpura learned from one of the best in the business.
Thanks RRNYC. DV- I completely agree. I think Purpura has taken a pretty good approach all along. He just needs to not blink now. I would love for Drayton's Christmas deadline to actually hold true.
The New York Yankees most definitely ARE offering him a contract!!! This, an hour ago EST. from New Yok's NEWSDAY: Boss meets with Beltran, offer to come Email this story Printer friendly format BY KEN DAVIDOFF AND JON HEYMAN STAFF WRITERS December 22, 2004 As they watched their trade for Randy Johnson fall apart yesterday, the Yankees took some time out to meet with their other big target of the offseason. George Steinbrenner and Carlos Beltran met for the first time, and the Yankees are expected to make Beltran an offer shortly. In Tampa, Beltran and his agent, Scott Boras, met with Steinbrenner, Yankees general manager Brian Cashman and president Randy Levine. One person who was briefed on the hour-long session said it was a cordial get-together. Beltran and Boras are expected to meet with Astros owner Drayton McLane, as well, at some point this week. The Astros, with whom Beltran concluded the 2004 season, already have an offer on the table, reported to be at six years and $81 million. That is a package that the Yankees could easily top, yet there figures to be more competitors for Beltran's services. The Mets could enter the bidding at some point, as well. And the Chicago Cubs very much want to try to sign Beltran, but team officials insist that they can do so only if they trade Sammy Sosa -- even though Sosa is signed through only 2005, meaning there would be just one year of a Sosa-Beltran overlap on the payroll. The Yankees have targeted Beltran for about a year, as they view him as the perfect successor to Bernie Williams in centerfield. Williams, the club's starting centerfielder since 1993, has one year left on his contract. He has begun to slow down in recent years, and he could be shifted over to the designated hitter spot in 2005. "Bernie's always been of the mind that there's a spot for him," Yankees manager Joe Torre said Monday, at a Yankee Stadium news conference. "There'll be a spot for him. If you get a guy like Beltran, obviously, he's going to play centerfield." Derek Jeter, at the same event, said of Beltran, "He's an outstanding player. He can help you in so many different ways. He's got to be up there with the best players in the game." Beltran, 27, spoke during the season of his interest in joining the Yankees. He went so far as to say that he and Williams had discussed the matter, and that Williams would "step down" from centerfield for his fellow Puerto Rico native. Williams politely disputed that account last month, but the Yankees believe that Williams wouldn't cause a disruption if Beltran signs with them. "Bernie's been a team guy," Torre said. "He's never been tough to manage as far as having him understand what we're doing." Some friends of Beltran believe that he could forego the Yankees to re-sign with the Astros, where he enjoyed himself following his June trade from the Kansas City Royals. In any case, Beltran is expected to make his decision by January 8, the last day he can re-up with Houston. ------------ So there ya go.
Give me a break. If the Yankees really wanted Beltran, they wouldn't have waited until the end of December to make an initial offer. And again this is just another lovely fluff piece by the New York media, chock full of old news about the Mets and the Cubs and nice, pretty quotes by Yankee players about Carlos, some of which are basically repeats of those said midseason. And lastly, all the article says is the Yankees are expected to make an offer shortly. The article doesn't even go any further into detail than just the reporters own speculation. No statement by George or Cashman backing that up, nothing. I don't really put that much stock in an article that seems to be written by using old quotes/information, with no substance to be found anywhere. Still the offseason is more than a month old and the Yankees have not made Beltran a real offer. That says a lot about the interest from their end of the equation.
Houston Chronicle Dec. 22, 2004, 12:15AM McLane to hold talks with Beltran, Boras Meeting follows Yankees' session with free agent By JOSE DE JESUS ORTIZ Copyright 2004 Houston Chronicle Comparing himself to a middle reliever in the bullpen, Astros owner Drayton McLane is eagerly awaiting a call from All-Star center fielder Carlos Beltran and superagent Scott Boras. ADVERTISEMENT Beltran and Boras met with Yankees owner George Steinbrenner, general manager Brian Cashman and some of the team's other top officials Tuesday in Tampa, Fla., for a getting-to-know-you session. According to industry sources, the Yankees did not make an offer to Beltran, who is considered the top free agent on the market this winter. Beltran and Boras will likely meet with McLane today or Thursday, and McLane likes his chances of selling Beltran on the Astros. If they meet Thursday, history may be on McLane's side. Thursday marks the one-year anniversary of the day McLane visited Roger and Debbie Clemens for his first in-home pitch asking the future Hall of Famer to come out of retirement. Over Christmas cookies baked by Debbie Clemens, McLane put on the charm last Dec. 23 and set in motion Roger Clemens' decision to come out of retirement and win his record seventh Cy Young Award. Partly because of the excitement Clemens helped create in Houston, McLane is confident he can lobby Beltran to re-sign with the Astros. "I think we have a wonderful opportunity," McLane said. "I think he loved Houston, loved the clubhouse and loved the ballpark. I think if it's anywhere close, we win." Astros general manager Tim Purpura and president of baseball operations Tal Smith have already set a foundation in the negotiations with Boras, who also has talked personally and via phone with McLane since October. The face-to-face meeting is up next. "We're the middle reliever," McLane said. "We don't know whether we're coming in the fifth or the eighth inning. We're warmed up, psyched up and want to get in." Although McLane wouldn't confirm the exact time of the meeting, he did not deny that a face-to-face get-together with Boras and Beltran has been set for today or Thursday.
forget soriano...he sucked in the playoffs with the yankees those few yrs, he ks too much, doesnt have a high ob%, horrible defensively....on the other hand you have a young pitcher in backe who has tons of potential, playoff experience, and will only get better...u dont trade good starting pitching for a bat.
Beltran would be a fool if not an idiot if he passed up playing for the Astros....The Yankess are going nowhere... If your reading this Carlos think back to the A-rod days in Texas when he sucked all their money and inturn they sucked for good.
You're correct in that it could be a fluff piece ... but then again, maybe it's valid? One just never knows, do they? Besides, every paper in every town prints "fluff pieces." Didn't we hear the other day that Beltran wants the Astros to "keep it quiet?" Didn't our GM say that on some radio show? Well, why I love Drayton, THIS seems pretty weird to say at a time we're supposed to "keep it quiet." "I think we have a wonderful opportunity," McLane said. "I think he loved Houston, loved the clubhouse and loved the ballpark. I think if it's anywhere close, we win." WE WIN? Oh well, we shall see. I hope so.
you watch a lot of baseball I take it , huh? George will make him an offer...its just his way and it always has been. However, if he doesn't think that Carlos will sign there (which could have been the reason for the meeting - i.e. to feel Carlos out about whether or not he would like to play for the Yankees moreso than say, Houston), he won't offer him a deal...George doesn't like to be turned down...it takes away from his aura of self proclaimed invincibility. He is sort of like the doctor that only wants to treat really curable patients so his success rates are higher. The fact that George let Boras and Carlos walk out of the Yankee offices without a formal offer...or even a hint of an offer for that matter...knowing full well that Carlos' next stop is most likely Houston for a meeting with Drayton, is a good sign in my opinion. The media will spin it as "well, it is just a preliminary meeting so that Carlos can see what the Yanks are about and vice versa...so Carlos can see what type of commitment they have and vice versa" NOT! The Yankees could care less about anything but proven production and they knew what Carlos could do before he hit that HR off of his shoetops. Carlos knew what the Yankees were about each and every time his Royals played in Yankee stadium and got smoked. He could see monument park from center field and could touch the plaques of Babe Ruth, Dimaggio, Mantle, Berra etc and think that one day he could be on one himself. Needless to say, there was no need for a preliminary meeting...there isn't anything that either party could learn about the other that wasn't already known. I think Drayton, while he may be playing it close to the vest, is going to lock up Beltran by New Years Day.
i could not agree more. you have a formal meeting 4 days before the Astros "soft" deadline and just a couple of weeks before the Jan 8th deadline...and no offer? i agree...george knows what the rest of us guessed...beltran liked houston and boras is trying to drive up the price. by not making an offer, george keeps from being a pawn in boras' game. and saves face in any potential bidding war, that he thinks he'll might lose considering beltran's preferences.
Let me explain. I studied journalism in college at UT-Austin. Newsday had to write something about the Boras-Steinbrenner meeting because it's their job. However, any good reporter knows they should have had reporters in Tampa ready to get statements from Cashman/Steinbrenner about the meeting. Now, it's possible they did, and they decided to not run them, but that just doesn't seem that feasible considering that's not how a reporter is supposed to write a story. Granted, Beltran/Boras asked to keep things quiet, but come on, one little quote by Cashman saying we plan to offer by blank date is not hurting negotiations and adds credibility to this piece. Here is what we know: a)Scott Boras set up this meeting, presumably because he has no leverage to get more money for his client b) The Yankees haven't made an official offer by December 21st to the premier free agent on the market(a guy they supposedly want?) c) The Yankees have made two trades, almost 3, and signed such vaunted players as Tony Womack and Jaret Wright by this time Now all that considered along with the way the article was written, it almost looks like a PR type of piece to make the fans happy(a way of showing we will try, but he won't come). They may in fact make an offer, but I think it's more like offering to appease George's fancy and the Yankees fan base than actually thinking Carlos is theirs. If this interest was genuine on both sides, the Yankees wouldn't have waited more than a month to make the guy a formal offer. That's the point.
