Carlos Beltran Rumors: Blue Jays, Cardinals, Red Sox Favored to Sign Slugger
By Editorial Staff
With Christmas quickly approaching, many free agents figure to sign new contracts this week. We found out yesterday that Carlos Beltran is expected to sign before Sunday, and that sentiment was confirmed this morning by Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. Goold hears five teams have offered the slugger a deal, while others have named the Red Sox, Cardinals, Blue Jays and Rays as the finalists in the Beltran sweepstakes. With a signing appearing to be on the horizon, let’s take a look at the latest Carlos Beltran rumors.
Goold says that the offers for Beltran have “varied” from five different teams. The Red Sox, Rays, Blue Jays and Cardinals have all expressed some interest in Beltran this offseason, and a fifth team, rumored to be from the National League, has apparently entered the bidding as well.
The contract offers being extended to Beltran figure to be in the two- to three-year range. It was reported yesterday that many expect it to take an annual salary of roughly $12 million to sign Beltran.
Beltran’s career numbers are impressive (.857 career OPS) and the outfielder was especially exceptional last season (.300/.385/.525). But, teams are wary of signing Beltran to a long-term deal due to his age (34) and injury history, specifically his knees problems.
An American League club would figure to be more willing to give Beltran a three-year deal because they could eventually use the veteran as their designated hitter. Beltran’s no longer an asset in the outfield, and analysts say his defense has been deteriorating over the past several seasons.
This scenario seems to favor the Red Sox or Blue Jays.
Each club has the money needed to sign Beltran, though the Red Sox have said their focus is more on adding pitching at the moment.
Still, the Cardinals remain in the mix for Beltran. St. Louis is looking to add offense after the departure of Albert Pujols, and Beltran is one of the few impact bats remaining on the market.
While they’ve stayed in the Beltran rumor mill, the Rays only figure to seriously enter the bidding if the market for Beltran bottoms out. At this point, it doesn’t appear this is going to happen.
Instead, the market for Beltran figures to heat up as we approach the weekend.
You can check out all of the available free agents by position below.