No, the Astros made it clear that they weren't going any higher when their best offer was below Beltran's minimum asking price. You also hear that the Mets had offered between $115 and $120 million last week. Those are the facts. If that is as high as they intended to go, they had no business putting all their chips into this one negotiation. Seems blatantly obvious to me. Don't let your loyalty blind you from what just happened. Teams have been lining up to acquire Beltran as a free agent for years. Expect the price to be high. Don't mortgage the team's future on a chance that Beltran might give you a home town discount.
The best free agents since the current CBA went into effect (Vlad Guerrero and Luis Pujols) got $14M a year. We offered Carlos $15M. How the hell is that a hometown discount offer? You really are a lot more stupid than I had thought.
deuce rings- drayton's ceiling was a damn good price for a player of beltran's level. apparently you think beltran is worth more but he really isn't. why shouild he be paid more then vlad guerrero or pujols? in this case boras got the mets to overpay, we'll see how good he is now.
A winning team is more than just hitting. The Met's pitching staff is horrific. Thank-you McLane for making a valiant effort to pursue Beltran!
Everyone loves to use the Vlad Guerrero contract as the benchmark. Given Beltran's agent, I think you should be thinking more ARod than Guerrero. And again, I'm not criticizing management for not overspending on Beltran. I'm criticizing their decision to mortgage the team's future on a chance that he might come back. Believe me, these guys had to know Beltran could get far more than they were willing to offer weeks ago. GM's have been salivating over Beltran for two freakin' years. You knew there was going to be hot competition from the richest franchises for his services. You don't draw a line in the sand when you're not holding any cards and with the Astros' deadline and no other free agents available, trust me the Astros were not holding the cards weeks ago.
Nice one, i would also like to point out that if winning was only about money, the Mets would be one of the best teams in baseball. if im not mistaken he Mets are one of the crappiest teams in baseball and will never get to the top of their division because the Braves are there too, the Braves are kind of like the Astros in a way. Both teams are in the upper middle class when it comes to cash, and both teams have good GMs. The Mets can spend all the cash they want just like they have been doing for so long, they not even nuber one in their city much less in their division. we will survive this, nothing to see here folks move along.
Thanks Drayton - I considered Carlos as a rent-a-player when he came here. It was nice that you gave what I'd consider the best offer to him. Time to move on. And Refman - it's Albert Pujols not Luis.
yes, the Astros made it clear recently. Yes, the Mets offered higher LAST WEEK, as you said. Your proposal was to "move on". So say we had moved on when we had the info necessary--i.e. last week. Then we'd be much further ahead in the game than we are? No, nothing would be different. Even if the chances went in the toilet last week, I think you stay with your 10% chances (not that I think they were that low) since there was only a week left in negotiations.
Wait until Carlos hits a bad batting spell or fails to deliver in the clutch a time or two -- the NY fans and media will be mercilous. I sure hope the kid had a really thick skin regarding criticism, because he's gonna need it.
You people thanking this guy can't be serious. I mean you honestly need to get a clue. This disaster single handedly set us back at least 4 or 5 years. I don't think he's cheap....I think he's a moron. You can't go after one guy and not have a plan B...not when you come within 1 game of the World Series after never winning a playoff series in your history...not 4 months after you draw 3 million plus fans....and certainly not when you don;t expect to overpay. As a season ticket holder, I am absolutely disgusted with how this was handled.
Beltran Agrees to Structure $119 Million Deal With Mets Contract Will Include $11 Million Signing Bonus for Center Fielder By RONALD BLUM, AP Sports "...McLane turned down Beltran's demand for a no-trade clause, several people said, which became an obstacle to a deal, perhaps the fatal one."
*Applause* I completely agree. Baseball, and the 'Stros in particular are my passion. This season is going to a brutal one to watch. All day I've had this feeling like I just went through a nasty breakup. This hurts, and if it is true that Drayton held out due to something as ignorant as a no-trade clause, (which is pretty much set in stone due to the dollars/years of the contract; how many teams besides the Yanks could afford a Beltran trade down the line?) then I might finally decide to join the anti-Drayton "What have you done to be a winner" bandwagon. This is absolutely pathetic. The logistics excuse a joke, too. Complete idiocy.
Okay I might be slow, but let me fully grasp this. The no-trade clause works like this: If a team sucks and wants to get rid of a high-priced contract and a valuable commodity, they cannot unless the player waives his clause. Firstly, what the hell is a "limited" no-trade clause??? Like only a certain number of teams? So if Beltran is to be valuable to the Houston franchise for years to come, why would you want to trade him? If the Astros sucked in 4 years and Beltran wanted out, then he would waive his no-trade clause to go to a contender (ie: Yankees). So what was McLane's reasoning for denying a no-trade clause anyway? It couldn't be that if Beltran sucked the Astros would want to move him, could it? Someone clarify because either I'm really dumb or McLane is. Still, I don't buy that it boiled down to a no-trade clause issue.
I still don't believe that b.s. for a minute either MONEY MONEY MONEY on the other hand , I'm not sure what the hell a limited no-trade clause is either?
Well, if it came down to Beltran wanting a no-trade clause and Mclane refusing to give it to him like the reports are saying, then I do have to fault Mclane. That was a horrible mistake on his part if it is true. That's a ridiculous stance to take and if that's the reason we lost Beltran, Mclane needs to address that.
I don't believe the no trade clause stuff for one minute. something as minor as that could not have held up this deal from happening. I am sure we will get another version within a few days from the Astros etc... If it was because of that then the organization slipped up in a way. If it wasn't money and it was a no trade clause then i can blame Drayton. But if it wasn't then i can blame Beltran for going for the money. I really think that Boras is trying to save face right now that's about it. I doubt that any organization would have let a person with his talent go becuase of a no trade clause. Even the dumbest GM would know that.
I think that the team has trades lined up. I think you will find some combo of Randy Winn, Shawn Estes and Alfonso Soriano here next season. No, they aren't Beltran...but they did put up some good numbers last year and may be enough to comprise a good team.
