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Now It's Beltran's Turn: Let the Bidding Games Begin
By LEE JENKINS
Published: January 1, 2005
Now batting: the center fielder, No. 15, Carlos Beltran, in the
cleanup spot.
Leading off was Carl Pavano, who signed with the Yankees. Next up was
Pedro Marti'nez, who went to the Mets. Then came Randy Johnson, who
is joining the Yankees.
But for all the high-profile pitchers in demand this off-season, the
winter of 2004-5 may be remembered for one powerful hitter.
Starting Monday, most of Major League Baseball will turn its
attention to Beltran, and to the big-market metropolis of New York.
The Yankees and the Mets, fresh off their holiday shopping sprees,
could be gearing up for a bidding war over Beltran.
Other high-profile free agents are still available - Carlos Delgado,
Magglio Ordo'n~ez and Derek Lowe among them - but none is as
captivating as the 27-year-old Beltran. He is an elite defensive
center fielder who is a threat on the bases and hits for average and
power. During the season, he was being talked about as the marquee
free agent for this winter, even before he put together one of the
best playoff performances in baseball history.
A career .284 hitter, Beltran batted .267 in the regular season,
split between Kansas City and Houston, but came alive in the
playoffs. He hit .435 in 12 postseason games, with 6 stolen bases, 8
home runs and 14 runs batted in.
Next week is shaping up as a sort of dream sequence for Scott Boras,
the agent for Beltran who is known for playing franchises off each
other to drive up the price for his clients. With a potential New
York versus New York matchup in the making, he need only stand on the
sideline, gleefully punching his calculator.
All that separates this from a standard Boras negotiation is the
apparent deadline he is operating under. Boras usually likes to take
his time at auction, waiting for every mystery team to reveal itself
and every side to submit one last counteroffer, but this time, he and
Beltran may find themselves in somewhat of a hurry.
The Houston Astros, who traded for Beltran last summer, must sign him
by Jan. 8 or lose negotiating rights with him until May 1. As a
result, next week could decide where Beltran spends the next decade;
he has said he enjoyed his experience in Houston, and the Astros have
already been pitching him lucrative contract proposals..
Boras may not get Beltran the 10-year, $200 million contract that he
initially suggested, but he could come close. Teams have spoken with
him about seven-year deals worth more than $15 million a year, and
considering that Boras recently negotiated a five-year, $64 million
deal for Adrian Beltre after only one impressive season, the market
appears ripe for more.
"When you're talking about a player like this, you're talking about
something nobody else in the game really has, and those players are
hard to find," Boras said in a telephone interview earlier this week.
"Carlos Beltran makes baseball business sense for all parties
involved. Money is way up in the game. The ability of franchises to
make these decisions is there."
Boras compares Beltran with only Alex Rodriguez, another of his
clients, who signed a 10-year $252 million contract with the Texas
Rangers in 2000. At the time, the Mets were viewed as front-runners
for Rodriguez, but they bowed out of the bidding when Steve Phillips,
the Mets' general manager at the time, declared that Rodriguez's
requests for preferential treatment would create an uneven atmosphere
in the clubhouse. It was unclear whether Phillips really thought
Boras and Rodriguez wanted such treatment, or whether he was looking
for an excuse to keep the Mets from spending a fortune on one player.
This time around, the Mets are trying another tack, keeping a low
profile and hoping to snag Beltran with a late surge. The Yankees and
the Astros have met with Beltran, and the Mets plan to meet with him
early next week.
The New York teams are trying to hide their hands for the moment.
When Yankees General Manager Brian Cashman was asked this week about
the Beltran competition, he said, "We have to decide if we're going
to be a player in this."
The Yankees could use Beltran because Bernie Williams, 36 and going
into the last year of his contact, is slowing in center field and
posted a .262 batting average last season. The Mets could use Beltran
to increase their credibility, boost season-ticket sales and
strengthen the audience for their new cable television network. The
Yankees could sell him on the opportunity to contend for the World
Series every season as part of a roster full of superstars. The Mets
could sell him on being the only superstar in their everyday lineup.
"Every player, when they consider the Yankees and another team, they
have to make that decision," Boras said. "Do you want to be part of a
continuing legend, or do you want to be on a team where you are the
legend? Just as long as players are aware of that, how they view it
is a personal decision. I think Carlos will listen to all people who
are interested in him and evaluate each situation independently."
Those who know Beltran describe him as smooth yet modest, a
sweet-natured superstar still coming of age. After spending six
seasons in Kansas City, he is eager for attention. He may have
sentimental reasons for returning to Houston, but Boras shoots down
the notion that Beltran is apprehensive about playing in New York.
"He is a tremendously disciplined athlete, a very focused athlete,
humble with his teammates and respectful of his skills," Boras said.
"I really think he's about getting up in the morning prepared to
improve and make himself a better player. He's a very driven man and
very serious about his performance."
Beltran has shown he can climb fences on the dead sprint, hit homers
under playoff pressure and go to the opposite field when a pitcher
wants nothing to do with him. Now, he must bat cleanup for baseball's
off-season, which has trudged through two months in anticipation of
one week.
--
If you're not have fun in baseball,
you miss the point of everything.
--
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