Sandy Alderson is working the phones this afternoon about Carlos Beltran. There’s a chance he could be taking more calls than making them.
“Carlos’ situation is well-known, and it’s not surprising given his situation and performance this year that a lot of interest has been expressed,’’ Alderson said. “We have not pursued that interest in great length to this point.’’
As an All-Star, Beltran is probably the premier outfielder and bat in the trade market, so the Mets aren’t completely without leverage.
Where the Mets don’t have leverage, is that Beltran’s contract precludes him from being offered arbitration so they won’t get any compensatory draft picks.
The balance of Beltran’s contract is for roughly $8 million, so the Mets must decide if that’s worth the price to pay to gamble on staying in contention.
Unless the Mets are bowled over, Alderson said he’s willing to ride this out until the trade deadline, and even longer.
While the trade deadline is July 31, the Mets can move Beltran after that in a waiver deal. In that situation, Beltran must clear waivers before he can be traded and given all the interest, that might not happen and the mets may be forced to deal with the claiming team – all too frequently those deals fail to transpire.
SI.Com’s Jon Heyman, believes the Mets will ride this out all the way until the final deadline day on July 31, because Alderson is convinced Beltran will not clear waivers.
Alderson’s stance is actually a good negotiating ploy. Everybody knew the Mets were desperate to deal Rodriguez, but by showing a willingness to wait on Beltran it’s possible he could force some general manager to blink and offer up a better prospect.
The Giants and Red Sox are the teams reported to have the most interest in Beltran. ESPN reported the Tigers might be players for Beltran.
As far as the Yankees, their primary objective is pitching. Even with Alex Rodriguez out for at least a month, the belief is the Yankees still have enough offense.
If the Mets go all out in the trade market, they have several pieces that could prove attractive to a contender, including Chris Capuano, Jason Isringhausen, Tim Byrdak, Scott Hairston and Willie Harris.
All have served a purpose for the Mets this season, but all can be replaced in the winter.
