For one thing, I don't ever want to see Chavez starting either, but I doubt there will be a big time catcher to go get in FA. Hopefully gimenez will be ready, or we will have to try to find a matheny type in FA for cheap because chamo is not even really backup material. I also came on the record earlier and said I'd like to pursue Corey Koskie at 3B this offseason(and think he can be had cheaply-5 mil or so). I'm not sure about Lane, but if he doesn't pan out you can find a good corner outfielder relatively easily though. Burke seems to be trade bait(no one likes him within the organization), but again, I left the caveat for a FA signing. I was just giving a general idea of what I perceived to be in the organization and what kind of money we could consider allocating at positions. I was not trying to suggest that I want those guys starting in a few years, just the possibilities.
IMHO, I think the deal to sign Beltran is 115-120 million over 7-8 years with a player option after year five. The Astros should make this offer and stick to it, do not get into a bidding war. That is a more than reasonable offer, and if Beltran wants more then there are plenty of other teams. I also think that the Astros should look at making a play for Adrian Beltre. At least a serious competitive offer to see if he or his agent bites. It would be nice to be one of those teams that is always mentioned about signing big time free agents.
If we don't get Beltran, I'd love to have RIchie Sexson as a consalation prize. He'd probab;y come alot chaeper, too. I see no reason why he'd want to resign with the rebuilding Diamandbacks. After all, the guy did put a dent in the center field flag pole. Only problem is he plays the same position as Bagwell.
While being a complete player is important in baseball, I don't think it's quite as important as you make it seem. Just look at Manny Ramirez and David Ortiz. Two horrible defensive players and neither guy is good at running the bases. But look where they took their team with their hitting ability. I might give a little extra money to Beltran for being an all-around player, but I wouldn't give him a boatload extra.
In 10 years, the contract amount will be small. Keep in mind. In 1979 players maxed out at $500,000. So it's not as bad as it might appears at first look.
Before I go further, not taking anything away from either guy, I just want to mention that the boston offense was not just Manny/Ortiz(who I might add struggles against LHP), it was loaded top to bottom with quality hitters who work the count. They weren't really Bagwell/Biggio pre Alou days. That Red Sox team had a good bench, solid pitching, deep pen, and a deep offense. Anyways, back to Beltran. I use the Vlad/Pujols contracts as the benchmark for Carlos. Carlos isn't quite the pure hitter of either guy, but he is much better on the bases/in the field than Albert, and he plays a more important defensive position and doesn't have the lingering back issues that Guerrero had coming into last years FA. He also happens to be a switchhitter with power from both sides of the plate(not like Lance who is much weaker as a RHB in general). Guerrero got 12 mil per, Pujols 14 mil per. I personally expect either 15 or 16 mil to land Beltran. That seems fair to me. Plus, I think pujols would more than likely get more than what he extended for in STL if he had been a FA because he is so dominant of a hitter. I happen to disagree about an all around player's importance to a baseball team, but of course it takes more than one guy to win games in baseball. But having a guy like Carlos who can impact a game in a myriad of ways helps make up for some players shortcomings(like biggio in LF last year). I wouldn't pay 20 mil for any player period, but if it takes a little more than the 15-16(like 17-18) mil to get him to ink his name as an Astro I don't pull out of negotiations(the same would be true if it was pujols or vlad I was coveting). I draw the line at 20 mil or more though, yes, but I really doubt any team ponies up 20 mil, even the bronx bombers. Also, the thing is before Berkman got hurt yesterday, regardless of Carlos, the team was going to more than likely extend him at 10 mil a year or so. I'd rather spend the extra 5-7 mil to get a player of Beltran's caliber as the centerpiece of the future Houston Astros and keep Berkman as his sidekick. The bottom line is, a lot of fans seem to think Beltran isn't worth the money based on his .258 batting average. Besides trying to indicate how good of a player I think beltran is(top 5 young position player in the game type good) I'm trying to show proof that batting average isn't a very useful measure of a baseball player's worth as a hitter because it has been effectively proven that OBP is the most important stat for a hitter and OPS(OBP + SLG) is the best way of determining a hitter's ability, not BA. And, I won't deny the fact I don't want to see the guy wearing another uniform. It is rare that a team like the Astros has a legitmate chance to retain a player of Beltran's caliber, and I think it would help boost the organization's revenue and profile if they kept him.
I just want to point out that Lance has posted respectable numbers as a RHB the last two years, but the point was he is clearly less of a threat as a RHB which is obvious to those who watch him on a daily basis.
Maybe we SHOULD LOCK BELTRAN for 10yr/170mil In 2010 paying Beltran 18mil prob seems like a bargain when you have players making $20+ by then.
But the thing is Beltran will be 37 at that point..and if he is not playing well then it will be hard to trade him becuase of his huge salary.
yeah you can easily see that his power numbers are really lower when batting from the right side. He has gotten better at hitting overall from the right side but still not a power threat as Beltran is from both sides.
i'm much more worried about the amount per year than the number of years personally. guys play for a pretty long time in baseball and being 27, even 10 years should only take beltran up to the brink of falling off or just starting to. looking to the future is good, but 10 years is a looooooooooooonnnnnngggg way into the future to worry about something. way too much to worry about whether or not a guy will just be an average player making 18M like bagwell is now. way too far to wonder if we can trade a guy who may or may not be bad in 10 years. especially when he's got 7 or 8 prime years ahead of him right now. if bagwell's shoulder hadn't gone to crap, he could easily still be a .290/35/100 guy right now (hell, he was 39/100 last year) and while that may not be 16-18M worth, it's still close enough that i'd take 8 years of 40/40 potential and worry about years 9 and 10 later. think about it, are you going to be content watching carlos almost go 40/40 the next 8 years (lets assume he doesn't start sucking for no reason) thinking, well at least we're not paying him in year 10 when he'll only be average? and even then there's no guarantee that he sucks when he's 37. 8 years of waiting for the payoff is too much in the sporting world. worrying about an older guy like bagwell and if it should be a 3 or a 5 year contract is valid, but worrying whether you should give a 27 year old 8 or 10 years isn't worth not doing it. 10 seasons is an eternity. hell, each season is an eternity. i don't wanna be wondering why our CF isn't an all star year in and year out for 8 years when i had a shot at one and didn't want him b/c he might just be getting too old toward the end of the contract. if we all had our 'druthers we wouldn't want a ten year deal, and hopefully this is just posturing, but if i have to offer 10 years at 15 or 16 per to beat someone else out i'm not gonna worry about 9 years down the road. i mean, who even knows what anything will be like in 10 years. we may strike oil at MMP and have a payroll of 300 million by then or we may suck so bad we don't care whether we have carlos or not. and in that case, we can always just trade him to the yankees. they certainly won't mind the contract if it gets too out of hand for us.
Beltran is a 1 OF A KIND PLAYER that's rare to find again Who else plays CENTERFIELD with SPEED, Hits for Power, Switch Hit, RBI Machine .... and can be a 40/40 man. AROD? no... PS: Anyway we can get ICHIROOOO?? ... just imagine Ichiro leading off / Beltran next .....
Giving Beltran a 10-year, Gazzilion-dollar contract would be foolhardy. I'm not saying it would happen, but I've got three little words: Ken Griffey Jr. Any questions?
Yes he has speed, but that goes away with age...i say we have about 5 years worth of good speed then it slowly declines. I mean yes i agree completly that he is a one of a kind player but rememeber the last person to get a 10 year deall? yeah didn't work out so well.....i think a 6 year deal or something is a better solution but his crappy agent is not going to let that happen.
Ichiro is overrated. All batting average and speed, no walks or power. And he's incredibly speed-dependant, an asset that traditionally vanishes by the mid 30s.
Get it done, he will be a 30-30 guy for six years then we can start feeding him roids and he will make a push for the HR title and noone will be the wiser.
DV you've got to be f'n kidding me. Players like him don't come around often??? He's a friggin career .284 hitter!! His very recent playoff performance aside, he's a very good player, but hardly as great as you're making him out to be. 6-7 years max. Take it or leave it.
He plays great D as well. If the astros could sign Ichiro for that money would you? I know I would. And if you have ever seen him hit you kno the skill this man has. He can put the ball where he wants. And who cares if he doesn't get walks he still got on base close to 300 times last season.
