5
2011
MMO Mailbag: Should We Target Carlos Beltran?
An article by 
The Mets are in need of a center fielder. They should just sign Carlos Beltran. He won't cost that much because he is 34. Sign him for two years and that will solve they're problems. What do you think? --Jacob Chalif
There are many ways to go about answering this question and many things that need to be considered. First off, there’s a little worry about Carlos Beltran’s ability to handle CF. Remember, Beltran played RF all of last year because of concern about his knees. Although he looked fine out there, to make the move back to CF with the Mets would still be somewhat drastic. If Beltran is somehow re-signed to the Mets, he’s probably going to be in RF and Angel Pagan will be in CF.
Pagan is arbitration eligible again and after a small decline in numbers and PA, his value won’t skyrocket. It’ll probably be somewhere between 4 and 5 million. It’s very likely the Mets are going to re-sign Pagan at that price to handle CF. In addition, Jason Bay is pretty much a lock in LF with his contract, so that just leaves RF.
The price tag for Carlos Beltran may be much higher than you imagine. His season line was .300/.385/.525 (22 HRs, 39 2B, 84 RBI) which is still above average. He spent time on the DL in August with a right hand injury but the important thing was, for the most part, his knees were pretty good the entire season.
His agent is Scott Boras, which means one thing: A ridiculous contract. That means you can expect Beltran to have an asking price of anywhere from $11-18 Million and he’s going to be looking for a multi-year contract. Sandy Alderson is not going to be the one to overpay for Carlos Beltran, so the likelihood of him returning to the Mets is very low.
If it was as easy as offering Beltran a 2 year deal for $20-22 Million, I would definitely give it a long look. Of course, it’s nowhere near that simple. Considering his bat is still very potent, it’s likely he’s going to get offers from AL teams to be a DH and he’s definitely going to get an offer from the Giants, whom he has granted first crack at him regardless.
Bottom line is that even though Beltran is turning 35 for next season, he is not going to come cheap nor is he going to come on a short term deal. I can only wish it was that easy. What you should expect to see happen is that Pagan will get a contract and Bay will stay in LF. RF is looking like it belongs to Lucas Duda.
Here’s a question for the readers – Grady Sizemore‘s option is almost certain to be declined by the Indians because he underperformed. If he’s healthy, do you throw an incentive based deal his way and hope he can return to form or give RF to Duda? Fernando Martinez is unlikely to give him any competition.
About the Author: Satish Ram
I am a Senior Writer and Editor here at MetsMerized - where I specialize in Minor League coverage. I have been on the staff since 2007 and I am currently in my third semester of college in New York City. You can find me at www.facebook.com/SatishRam or @SilverHeatMMO. Feel free to message me - I love talking about the Mets or baseball overall with anybody.
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Umm… YES!!!!!
We can’t afford him.
The way our OF is right now Bay and Duda are locks for the corner. Pagan (or replacement) is in CF and we have to have a back up capable of playing CF so that leaves open just one OF spot. It wouldn’t really make sense to sign Carlos at the salary he’ll command and have to skimp elsewhere.
Sure he would be a lot better in RF than Duda and a Bay/Duda platoon would be far better than Jason out their every day but again at the expense of upgrading the bullpen?
Somehow I feel after the way the Wilpon’s tried to embarrass him (off season surgery, Walter Reed, Fred’s remarks) I doubt he’s coming back anyway.
Kelly,
If you could get Boras to drop his price tag, you know I’d support you in getting him back. He’s a great player and adding him to the lineup once again would give us one of the top offenses in the NL… If we keep Jose .
you know, i was thinking about sizemore as well, his option will be decline and he’s a good player, but he’s hurt ALL the time, is a shame because that kid could rake. it’d be interested to see, i’ve already started hearing ppl conceide the 2012 season here, so that means another year of ineptitude awaits, i am very excited to see who sandy will get to improve the ball club..
Alex,
Sizemore really could rake and his injuries slowed him down. If he’s willing to take an incentive-based deal to make a name for himself again, I’d jump. If he gets injured, we just put him on the DL and call up Duda (same concept if he’s not hitting or something as well.)
no,satish, duda will be our RF, then we can have bay (unfortunately) at LF, sizemore at CF, and duda in RF. then we go after some defensive OF in the market who can play in case sizemore gets hurt..
Sadly, I agree with this. Grady is twice the player Pagan is. Maybe three times the player. But there has to be a solid backup behind him because he’ll hurt himself eating breakfast or something.
Alex,
Bay looked a little more alive towards the end of the season. In addition, if they are lowering the walls as expected, you might see a boost in numbers. He also plays LF pretty well defensively.
So you’re saying you don’t want to tender Pagan a contract? I would take Sizemore over Pagan but you can’t bet on a safe season. You can only hope.
satish,
yes, he looked alived… for 2 weeks.. he sucks there’s no point to it, the man forgot how to hit, and at best should be the #6 hitter on a good team (kinda like his years with boston) but on this mets team full of nobodies he then has to be accounted on which is a shame. he’s the biggest offensive bust since foster.. probably worst..
I’m not gonna sit here and disagree with you, because to be honest, he has been horrible offensively.
even if you did satish, you’d still be my friend…
Appreciated, but you’re right in this case.
I am, however, hoping Bay shows some kind of life in this upcoming season. I still think he can 15/75. Nowhere near what we signed him for, but still.
platoon him. He hit’s RHP like Castillo at this point, but can still hit lefties. Scary splits, especially for a RH hitter.
cant afford him. OF will be bay, duda and some random dude.
Why go backwards? Let’s get Young from the Rangers to play 3rd and maybe, one of the Uptons will be available for outfield.If we can all see during playoffs, besides pitching, there’s no substitute for a guy who can and DOES hit HRs! We have zero home run hitters.
I love Carlos Beltran…he will go down as one of the greatest Mets of all time. However, re-signing a guy who turns 35 in April, who can no longer play CF everyday makes little to no sense. RF should be taken over by Duda to see what he can do as a full time player. The fact of the matter is the Mets will not be contenders in 2012 (and probably not in 2013 either), so signing Beltran to a 2 year deal is nothing more than a signing for sentimental value. Sadly, it is time to rebuild (has been time for awhile, actually), therefore, this organization has to move forward, not backward. Bye, Carlos, I will miss you….go sign with a contender for your remaining playing days.
interesting idea. Not likely to happen though. And Boras is not that big a deal. he can ask for anything, but it isn’t going to change his market value. What it can mean, however, is that they will try to drag out the process damned near to ST meaning most teams will have already moved on.
Sizemore, that could work out. And having pagan as a 4th OF behind him would be a good thing. And on a tangent, if Reyes does you, you could do something similar for SS (meaning, it does not have to be Tejada instead, especially if they prefer to have him at 2B).
Anyway, for the OF, my plan would be:
LF – Duda (keep the bat, hide the glove!)
CF – someone new that can cover a lot of ground, either a young guy they import (trade) or a vet like Sizemore on a ST deal.
RF – Bay/LH hitter (say, F Mart or Kirk, or potentially an import on a 1 year deal).
I am assuming of course that Bay is back.
reasoning: Bay stills hits LHP well, but is worthless vs. RHP. The Mets have a few LH hitting OFs coming up, and it would be a good way to break one in while keeping Bay from getting too many PAs (and utilizing his strengths).
I put them in RF since bay is the minor partner, and it will let Duda play in the least challenging spot defensively, while keeping his bat in the lineup.
CF I would like to change to upgrade over pagan (hopefully with a guy to build around) but the default could be him again.
Any,
I’ll be rooting to get Bourjos from California all winter.
he fits the criteria.
Bay will not be platooning so stop. It’s just not happening, i can’t be any more clearer.
Unless there’s a shocker and he’s moved Jason Bay will be in LF next season and will NOT be platooning
Lucas Duda will be in RF not LF
It was an opinion of what SHOULD be done. No different than saying they should have spent $10mill more on better players.
Or of course, trading Wright for a SP. It’s just not happening, i can’t be any more clearer, so just stop!
So, just what IMO would make the team better.
The difference is you hear rumors about Wright being traded in mainstream media and I think it’s good because now at least the possibility of Wright being traded has reached the mainstream finally after only being bandied about in recent times, for the most part, exclusively in fan blogs.
On the other hand i hear nothing about Bay being platooned. To me that is just pure fantasy speculation by a few people and will not happen under any circumstances whatsoever.
conversely, the recent Wright being traded for pitching talk is more realistic and probably IMO the BEST route for this team to take while signing Reyes. But i doubt that would happen.
Let me put it this way in real terms. I think there is more of a chance of Wright being traded than Bay being platooned – strictly based on a realistic scenario.
His agent is Scott Boras, you are not going to get a bargain on him. Especially since he made the All-Star game and showed he can be a successful right fielder.
Met fans love their old players! Resign Beltran? Sure,why not. Then resign Rodriguez for the bullpen. And resign that phenom Milledge too. It will be a great season.
The way to approach it is make your offer and let the chips fall!
As much as I love Beltran, it’s time for the Mets to move on!
SAT-RAMMER, CASE U HADN’T NOTICED HE’S NO LONGER A CFer ESPECIALLY IN CITI WHERE WIDTH WILL REMAIN TO CF, JUST NOT DO DEEP, BESIDES AS TO YOUR SPECUALATING FOOLIDSSHLU BY THISS ASSUMPTION; He won’t cost that much because he is 34. Sign him for two years and that will solve they’re problems. What do you think? –
I’LL SEE YOUR 34 MAKES NO DIFFERENCE & RAISE YU A SCOTT “REALITY PLAYS NO PART ON MY DEMANDS” BORAS!
BEEN THERE, DONE THAT! WHY DO PEOPLE LIKE OUR CURRENT NAT’L LEADER INSIST UPON SOLVING PROBLEMS NY REPEATEDLY APPLYING THE SAME TIRED & EWRONG SOLUTIONS?
I wish that I didn’t have to agree because if we could sign Carlos for two years at a reasonable price it would be good but as stated Scott Boras will do as he always does and drive the price up far too much for Sandy Alderson. Bottom line is that it would probably be better to go with Lucas Duda again in rightfield and see if he is ready to deliver on the promise he has shown this past season. After all, why retard his progress by having him sit on the bench which is where he would be if Beltran comes here and Ike Davis returns healthy.
Time to move on and develop our younger players!