http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/sports/10102662.htm Beltran wants 10-year deal HOUSTON (AP) -- Houston Astros free agent center fielder Carlos Beltran is seeking a 10-year contract, his agent told a television station on Thursday. "All of the fundamental aspects about the desire of him to stay in Houston and to look at Houston as a serious contender for his services I think are there," Scott Boras said in an interview with KRIV. Boras said Beltran is also interested in a couple of other teams, but he did not name them. He declined to discuss salary figures. "He is going to just go through the process, talk to those teams, and we are going to evaluate the ability of the club to have a winning environment every year, and certainly the economics of it." Astros owner Drayton McLane told the station that the club will not receive the financial parameters from Boras until next week and won't respond until then.
10 years!?! so it's looking like a 10/160-170 million dollar contract for Carlos. I'm sorry but if those are the demands, i'm gonna have to pass. Haven't we learned that 36-37 year old players who at that point in their playing careers are washed up and don't deserve the 17-20 million dollar contract? no way we should offer anything more than 6-7 years with the 7th year being a team option
No way! Spread the money around on areas we need like the bullpen and getting a catcher that hit or bunt as well call a good came.
Give it to him for christ sakes as long as the money is reasonable. Carlos Beltran is outfreakingstanding in every aspect of the game. Players like him don't come around often. Sometimes you don't let money or a length of the deal stand in the way of getting something done. This is one of those times. No offense to Lance Berkman, but if I had to take my pick of either him or Beltran, it's adios fat Elvis, every time. Don't give that he didn't show up all the time crud, the numbers prove otherwise. Carlos Beltran needs to be an Astro for life. He is one of those "special players," guys who you will hear those who saw him play clamoring on about his feats 50 years from now. This isn't even a question in my opinion. He is that good.
Give it to him as long as it's not A ROD money. We can always trade him down the line if we feel we need to fill a couple other holes on the ball club or free up salary.
I think you're letting this year's post-season cloud your judgement. Beltran is not one of those 'special players' (at least the kind you described), he is merely a very good player who had a tremendous month or two. No way is he worth a 10-yr deal to a team that is on a tight budget.
Uh, no, I'm not. Let's see, we have a gold glove caliber CF, who switch hits(hits well from both sides), who happens to be the best base stealer in all of baseball and who has 30-40 homerun power to go with it. He is special. Complete baseball players don't grow on trees, especially those who play centerfield and are 27 years old. Carlos Beltran is one of the 5 best position players in baseball and with his age, that makes him very special. If I could get him at 150 mil for 10 years, I do it in a new york minute. He is one of a handful of guys I would build a team around for the next decade(including guys like vlad/a-rod). Plus, it's not like McClane doesn't have money at his disposal if he chooses to use it(he is on forbes most richest people list every year). Also, factor there is the distinct possibility of the increased revenue from the exposure MLB/ESPN/FOX would give the astros because of having beltran on their team(not to mention merchandising sales) and the 7 million dollar increase in the astros reconstructed deal with FSSW and he can afford to have a player like Beltran on the roster and build a winner around him.
but you know that 10 years down the road he's gonna be 37 and those attributes that makes him so great (basestealing, gold glove CF) won't be there anymore and what happens if he blows a knee or something. Then your stuck with another bagwell making 17-18 million a year and ultimately hamper the mid-market club. The yankees can do something like this and be okay. The astros can't.
Excuse me, they can't? They are competitive right now with Bagwell making 16 mil a year, and Drayton McClane has a lot of personal wealth if he chooses to delve into it. Also pardon me but I'm not going to worry 10 years down the road today. 15 million dollars over 10 years is a very fair contract for Carlos, and would not hamstring the Astros at all. 15 million is a lot different than 25; a lot different. That 10 mil can fill out a bench or a bullpen quite easily or get an extra SP or a bat when necessary. And like I said earlier, MLB would want to market whatever team Beltran is on, and the Astros could tap into increased merchandising sales along with the increased TV deal they just received. Plus, if that deal isn't official(as it hasn't been announced officially yet) they would have a lot of ammunition from which to get a regional network of their own. So are there are increased revenue possibilities out there. The Astros are a high range mid market team as is, not a team with a 50 mil payroll. And just to clear up any misconceptions about the A-Rod holding texas back situation, the player who really held them back was Chan Ho Park and his 15 mil a year. With that money free they could have gotten a couple solid starting pitchers to go with rogers in their rotation. Park was the bigger mistake not A-Rod. And beltran is at least anywhere from 5-10 mil a year cheaper than Alex was.
I say give it to him. He may have just made us serious players for his services. We can't offer the kind of yearly scratch that Steinbrenner can. But, Steinbrenner might not be willing to give him a 10 year contract. I say offer a 10 year $90 million contract & be willing to go as high as $120 million.
you don't see my point though. My point is that i don't want to see beltran at 37. I'm sorry but i don't want to see my superstar ailing and wincing everytime he swings and runs. When bagwell signed that lucrative offer a couple of years ago it was a contract of loyalty not for competitiveness purposes. You say that you don't care about 10 years down the road but that's the same thing like saying 4 years ago we didn't care about extending bagwell's contract and look at it now. Nobody wants bagwell's 17 million dollar contract. plus, i honestly think that he's gonna command more than 15 million/year. He made 9 this past season and i honestly think that new york's gonna offer 17-18 million over 10 years. P.S. - also, like some of the above posts, i also feel like a lot of people base their judgement on this postseason instead of the overall season. Granted he's a great player and he's a legitimate 40/40 guy but if you look at his BA, he hit .250-.260 all season and he was stuck on 38 hr's for like 2-3 weeks.
I say give it to him. He'll be worth the money in the short term, and the contract will be a steal in the long term as egos and inflation drive up salaries.
1) I have no problem with 17-18 mil a year. If it was past that point, it would depend on how much past that point but I don't lose a guy like this on a minute monetary difference. 2) I live in the present, not 10 years in the future. If you are so risk averse to signing anyone to a deal that pushes into their 30's you don't belong as a general manager. If that is what is takes to get one of the most complete players in baseball, than so be it. I want to go to war with that guy on my team and the astros can make this work financially(they have a very wealthy owner and are a 75-80 mil revenue team currently). Carlos Beltran has plenty of very good years left(complete baseball players like him can make up for declining skills in some areas in other ways) and it's TEN years down the road. 3) My judgment was made as soon as we made the trade for him. I knew exactly how special the kid then. I told people the organization should not view this as a rental but as a long term acquisition. Furthermore, BA is a useless stat. The real stat is OBP/SLG=OPS. And he has posted .900 plus OPS's the past two years with an .847 OPS in 02. About the homeruns, have you heard about slumps? It happens. A-Rod struggled for long stretches this year in new york too. 4. Of course his postseason factors in. He proved the loves the brightest stage in the world. That is icing on the cake. Resigning him gives the Astros a legitmate shot at reaching a World Series in the future because most of your awesome young position players reside in the AL. (Pujols, Beltre, Beltran, possibly Cabrera in FLA, Andruw in ATL are really it. The guy gave the franchise hope and it's fanbase hope. His presence made guys like biggio, and berkman finally stop trying to do to much in the playoffs and just play their game and lo and behold, they were one game away from the WS with a rag tag starting rotation. I'm sorry but if your reasons for not signing Carlos Beltran are I don't want to see him at 37 like Bagwell is now or his BA is not the highest, you would kick yourself for a long time. It's not just the bat that makes him so good, it's his arm, his defense, the fact when he gets on base in big games it's like he's on second with his stealing prowess. That is why he is worth the attention he is getting, and a contract of this magnitude.
Check, check, check, all night long. He beat me. Pay that man. Pay that man his money. Yeah, I know. The poker reference doesn't fit.
the 10 year thing doesn't bother me...what's wrong with wanting a little job security....it's the amount of money he wants over the 10 years that's key.
10 years really doesn't bother me with a position player such as Beltran. Over the last 10 years, we've seen more slugger's reaching their prime in their 30's. Look at Bonds, Sosa, and McGwire, minus the steroids. There have also been many other players playing later in their career than ever. Who knows what medicines or vitamins, combined with staying in shape will stretch out the lifespan for MLB player's careers within the next 10 years? Personally, i think good position players will be playing into their early 40's in 10 years. Too bad for the minor leaugers. But we've seen minor league players not coming up nearly as early as they used to just in the the last 10 years. That's why no pitchers will be getting 300 wins anymore.
