25
2011
Mets Still Want The Moon For Beltran
An article by 
Jerry Crasnick of ESPN.com, says he has seen no sign the Mets are dropping their asking price for Carlos Beltran.
[blackbirdpie url="https://twitter.com/#!/jcrasnick/status/95593813665517568"]
I thought they would get real and try to get something done before more teams become disinterested. But, so much for that theory…
Original Post 7/25 12:30 PM
Last week in a post I wrote entitled, “Stop The Insanity! Domonic Brown For Beltran Is Pure Fantasy”, I made the following points:
Who in their right mind would actually believe that the Philadelphia Phillies would give up their number one prospect and 4th best prospect in baseball, Domonic Brown, in exchange for a two month rental with bad knees? Why in the world would Philadelphia even consider such a preposterous idea???
One thing is true and it has been even before the season started…
Beltran will get traded, and you can take that to the bank. But if you think you’re getting any player featured among Baseball America Top 5 Prospects or Top 50 Prospects, I got a bridge to sell you in Citi Field.
A week later, and it seems that all those 8-10 teams that were clamoring for the chance to add Beltran for their post season run, has now dwindled down to possibly 2-3 teams in the NL.
As I expected, the Phillies scoffed at the Mets demands and have now focused their attention on Justin Upton who is not only younger, but also under team control for another year beyond this one.
The San Francisco Giants have also gone lukewarm on Beltran and have shifted their attention elsewhere as well.
So much for all that pie in the sky…
Last night, I tweeted the following:
[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/MetsMerized/status/95316358295846912"]
[blackbirdpie url="http://twitter.com/#!/MetsMerized/status/95330278066757632"]
In May we would have taken pure salary relief for Carlos Beltran, but now not only are the Mets asking for the moon, but they are willing to include $6 million dollars into the deal as well to make it happen.
Ever since names like Zach Wheeler, Gary Brown and Domonic Brown were being bandied about, I was surprised at how many were actually buying into that notion.
Today, the same person who threw a couple of those names into the foray over a week ago (I’m talking about Buster Olney), now says nobody is willing to part with anything more than a “B Grade Prospect”.
Oh really? I never believed it would be anything, but that anyway.
Reality, can be a real kick in the ass sometimes.
About the Author: Joe DeCaro
I'm a lifelong Mets fan who loves writing and talking about the Amazins' 24/7. From the Miracle in 1969 to the magic of 1986, and even the near misses in '73 and '00, I've experienced it all - the highs and the lows. I started Mets Merized Online in 2005 to feed my addiction. Follow me on Twitter @metsmerized.
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Just keep Beltran, if we dont get an A level prospect. This team is capable of winning 87 games with Beltran. They may just win 75 without him and be in last place. For the sake of better optimism next year and more season ticket sales, it may just be worthwhile to let him play out the season with the Mets.
haaa, good luck, the team was decided in december of 2010.. trade beltran, wait for reyes to play out th season to see if he was worth a contract, have hu and eamus at 2b, trade krod, releeease castillo and perez to please the fansbse
I don’t think your that far off from the truth. I mean I don’t think it was set in stone as what they were going to do no matter what happened but the idea that back in December they already envisioned the scenario you described seems realistic.
K rod, ollie and slappy most likely they had that in mind.
still on the hu and emaus kick? They were cheap options brought in, given a short leash, and quickly discarded. nto even a blip on the scheudle really.
and you can’t be arguing against releasing castillo and ollie, which was 100% correct from a production perspective, regardless of what the fans wanted!
K Ord was the right move at this point IMO, but I do agree with you that they should have looked to lock up Reyes early in the off season, but the arguement could be made for what they did too (plus, we have no idea what interest, or contract request, the reyes camp gave them)
Why not ask for the moon. Philly, SF and Atlanta are all STARVED for offense. They have to go through each other to get to the World Series. Philly, SF and Atlanta all NEED to add O at corner OF. Think Atlanta wants to play Brooks Conrad at 3B in the playoffs? I don’t think so. They’ll put Prado at 3B, Beltran in LF until Chipper comes back, then perhaps Beltran moves to CF.
Sure Upton is better for next year but what about this year? What do you have to give up for him? Is he a difference maker? Please.
With the 3 rotations these teams have games are likely to be 2-1 and 3-2. Think 28 AB’s from Beltran wouldn’t make a big difference? The guys got about 13 HR’s in about 15 career playoff games and can’t be turned around in the late innings of a close game.
Anyone that thinks Upton represents a better value than Beltran is crazy.
imo, all those foremention got BUST written all over them.. don’t like none of the “suspect” errr, prospect we’re being linked with.. but i guess is better than a PTBN later right
Excuse me, but why are they busts> They represent the cream of the cop as far as prospects, no reason to label them unfairly just because you’re not familiar with them. It doesn’t matter because we’re not getting them anyway, but no reason to just randomly call them busts unfairly. Had one of those players been on the Mets they would have immediately become our #1 prospect.
Alex just because they’re not Latin doesn’t make them busts.
calimetsfan, DON’T USE RACIAL PROFILING here, i was told not to and you shoulnd’t use that here, let’s talk baseball..
also, imo, i just think that with all the pressure that one of this kid will be in replacing beltran it has a recipe for disaster
Thats a ridiculous argument Alex, what makes whoever we trade Betran for any different then players currently in the franchise. Basically you are saying the Mets will never have a legit right fielder because the pressure of replacing Beltran is too great.
again, i am not sayinbg that, but most likely that will be the scenario, remember cone for jeff kent??? thank you!!!!!
Yup you got me a great pitcher for a very good second basemen totally proves why Beltran is irreplaceable. Well done I submit to your infanant any wisdom.
what?!????!?!??!? was jeff kent any good while with the mets??!!??? are you serious?? i don’t give a F*** what he did AFTER he left the mets, i am talking about what he did WITH the mets, and that trade was a bust, we traded arguably the best pitcher in baseball at the time for a average at best second baseman, who blossom AFTER leaving NY..
We actually got some pretty good production from Kent for a 2B. Now MVP stuff, but pretty good compared to most 2B. I think the bigger problem was the other guys on those Mets teams rather than Kent. Maybe if the team wasn’t such an embarrassment, we would have kept Kent and had him as he took off.
wow.. really??? i am sorry, i must’ve missed those “good production” years of kent as a met..
They might have more visible if the team as a whole wasn’t so awful. The reality is, Kent was one of the better 2B as a Met. A low bar perhaps, but still, you can hardly call him a bust.
Is alex68 the same guy who was promoting Ruben Tejada? He must be better than Jeff Kent was.
Your right he was terrible with the Mets oh wait his numbers after he left the Mets were relatively the same. Oh and he hit in much better line ups after leaving the mets so that might have helped him raise his average a few points and hit 2-6 more home runs.
Beltran is a very cut and dried situation. You either use him on the field the rest of the year, or get some players now to replace him.
not having the option of arbitration to get draft picks eliminates a lot of the gray area about deciding what to do with him.
all the reports/leaks/rumors are really just smoke blowing. And everyone has an agenda.
teams are reported in when they aren’t interested, and out just before a deal goes down.
Upton? Well, lots of guys are available. some under team control for more years. But the key is, is the guy you are going after a difference maker? Is he (in the teams opinion) the guy that is the missing link to a legit shot at a WS title?
If yes, the return ratchets up.
Think the Braves are giving up a mojor prospect for Upton? is he really enough of an improvement for them (a difference maker)to make it worth trading someone good?
and don’t forget, right before K Rod deal went down, no one was mentioning the Brewers, and frankly, more people were swearing he wouldn’t be traded (or no deals were perculating) than anything else!
The media does this every year. Report rumored trade deadline player requests that really are never validated if they were legit or not.
It is what it is. Something to read and talk about pro and con until the real deals or non deals are done.
regardless of what anyone thinks, beltran is out of here, sandy is waiting for someone to flinch and give up a prospect caliber “A”, or sandy will end up calling a team saying, ok, gimme caliber B or C+ prospect.. i don’t know how a prospect is rated so i use common sense letters..
Agreed, Mets are holding out to get the best deal they can but Beltran barring something unforeseen is as good as gone.
See what happens, Joe?
They were all ready to give up A level prospects, you wrote a piece, and they all changed their mind!
all jokes aside, though.
As I mentioned before, Casey Blake got traded for carlos Santana/ pitcher Meloan in ’08 so don’t think that Sandy might not be able to pull some magic trick… But I’d take a B level prospect and be happy. Just not from the Phillies.
again, satish, look at what the phillies have given up for halladay, lidge, oswaltt?? absolute CRAP!!! say no to the phillies “prospects”!!!
Most of that speculation was just that, speculation. Jon Heyman was the one who started the Dominic Brown rumor with a tweet saying something like “it would be interesting if the Mets asked for Dominic Brown for Carlos Beltran”.
Asking for top level prospects merely establishes a negotiating position.
Im secretly hoping the whole thing is smoke and mirrors and they are currently working on a three year deal with Carlos behind the scenes.
lmao, i am sorry for laughing at your comment, but that s*** was funny, you believe this team will ADD payroll with money saving sandy at the helm!!?? lmao, good luck having pridie at RF next season, splitting time with duda
No I don’t believe that will happen not by any stretch of the imagination. But it sure would be nice if it did.
This calimetsfan comment is absurd.
Absurd? How? I didn’t say I think that’s what will happen just saying it would be nice. I’d like to have Carlos another year or two?
I still think he goes to the Braves. They know they can’t make a run at the Phillies without another bat in the lineup. Just look at the Cincinatti series where they left a ton of men on base. I could be wrong (as I often am) but it fits because I think he wants to stay with an east coast team. The Braves can give up a pitcher like a Mike Minor and not skip a beat.
I don’t get this idea that if Alderson keeps asking for top prospects, he’s risking not getting anything at all. The Giants aren’t going to say, “You asked for Zach Wheeler, now we’re going to punish you by giving you nothing when you could have had Gary Brown.” You reach for the stars; if by the deadline you can’t get it, you settle for what you can get (if you think it’s worth trading Beltran at all).
The apparent availability of Upton complicates things a bit but I don’t see how/why it should bump down Beltran’s trade value a lot. Let’s say one of the Braves or Phillies or Giants get Upton; won’t that put pressure on the other two teams to make a corresponding move? If there were only one team in the market for an OF bat, then Beltran’s trade value might take a hit because of Upton’s availability, but there are several interested teams.
good point acoustic.. well done my friend..
Acoustic: How’d this work out?
you dont actually know that the mets are asking for “only” the top prospects. you dont know what they are asking for, you made that up.
you meant “fray” not “foray”
jerry crasnick has no evidence for a price drop? well neither do i. doesnt mean it hasnt dropped. or that it even was terrifically high to begin with. we put a bit too much stock in rumors. these reporters are trying to make a living. they have to say something even if they have nothing to say.
I love how Alderson is playing this. Instead of being a laughingstock dupe, like Minaya, he is calling the shots.
A lot of teams want Beltran, and maybe Alderson won’t get a #1 prospect for him, but you can bet he’s going to get as much as humanly possible, and the Mets won’t be bamboozled like when crazy uncle Omar was in charge.
So, Joe D, I think you’re out of your league on this one.
How can we know if they are dropping their asking price if we have no solid idea as to what their asking price is?