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Beltran's stock skyrocketing
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By Peter Gammons
Special to ESPN.com
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May 11
Two general managers whose teams had recently played the Royals went to the Carlos Beltran discussion point. "For me," said one GM, "he's the best player in the league right now. He does absolutely everything."
|  | | With nine HRs and nine steals through May 10, Carlos Beltran could join the 40-40 club. |
"If he's not the best, he's awfully close," said the other. "He seems to have better at-bats when games are on the line, which makes him all the more impressive and attractive. The question right now seems to be where he'll be two months from now, then where he is next spring."
Next spring is an issue the 27-year old Beltran says he isn't concerned about right now. "That will take care of itself in time, I have a season to play," he said. "But I do realize that there's a chance I will be traded during the season, especially if we continue to struggle. There's nothing I can do about it. I wish the Royals could be in it and I could stay here, but I understand the business."
So does Royals GM Allard Baird, who knows he cannot afford to sign his switch-hitting superstar. There seems to be an industry-wide assumption that the Yankees will roll out eight years and somewhere around $130 million to sign yet another superstar, especially given that the Alex Rodriguez deal has reopened the doors to Yankee Stadium for agent Scott Boras. "I don't think anyone but the Yankees will look at a July trade for Beltran as a trade-and-sign thing," said one GM. "So we're looking at a two- or three-month rental. I doubt the Yankees could get him right now because they don't have the major league-ready prospects."
As all of the Beltran indicators are on the ascent -- his K/BB ratio has gone from 2.5-to-1 to more walks than strikeouts, his OPS keeps rising and he is the all-time leader in career stolen base percentage (over 88 percent). "What's striking is that he does keep learning and getting better," said Baird. "I never thought I'd see him take the tough pitches he does now. He's amazing how he improves on that, gets into counts and gets his pitches to hit. But he's smart. Every year when we've gone to arbitration, he's listened to the things he's been criticized on and improved on them. Not many players are like that."
Beltran is now close to a Gold Glove outfielder. And, in contrast to Vladimir Guerrero, there is little worry about Beltran getting hurt swinging too hard or crashing into walls because he does everything so gracefully.
"One thing he's done is really learned how to use his legs to drive balls," says hitting coach Jeff Pentland, who was a big influence on Sammy Sosa with the Cubs and even Barry Bonds at Arizona State. "He's worked at it, and really he's the model for everything Ted Williams taught."
"Legs, hips, they're the things hitters learn," said Beltran. "I like learning. I want to be the best. All the rest will take care of itself."
No kidding.
More news and notes
Ever since signing Brad Wilkerson to a long-term contract, the Expos have worked hard to sign Jose Vidro and Orlando Cabrera, who will both be free agents at the end of the season. Unlike last year, when their attempts to sign Vladimir Guerrero were hapless, this time they may sign at least one of their two middle infielders.
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| 2004 SEASON STATISTICS |
| AB |
BA |
HR |
RBI |
OBP |
SB |
| 126 |
.266 |
4 |
13 |
.336 |
1 |
|
|
It's believed that Vidro is close to signing a three-year deal that would keep him from becoming a free agent. The All-Star second baseman has indicated to the team and his agents that he won't get caught up in trying to get a certain amount of money in a contract, that he is happy with the team no matter where they move.
"It is clear by the aggressive nature of the negotiations that major league baseball believes the buyer of the team wants them to retain as many of their best players as possible," says a source close to the talks.
Fate has not been kind to the Blue Jays as their best pitching prospect Dustin McGowan will need elbow surgery. McGowan, who is 2-0 in six starts for the Jays' Double-A Eastern League team in New Hampshire, will at some point have Tommy John surgery performed by Dr. James Andrews in Birmingham, Ala.
There are a lot of reasons thrown around for Oakland's inconsistent pitching. The departure of pitching coach Rick Peterson and the preparation he brought -- check the Mets' ERA -- is one. Then there is the bullpen issue, where Arthur Rhodes has been shaky and has shoulder issues, while the setup crew has no one who gets many swings and misses. Someone eventually will suggest putting Rich Harden in as a closer for this season when Joe Blanton comes up. On Monday, the A's sent a scout in to see Byung-Hyun Kim, whom the Red Sox would love to move. But Kim threw 84-86 mph, didn't strike out any Cleveland hitters and is no different from their relievers.
There are some in the Rangers' organization who feel that this is going to be a critical offseason in their building process as they try to find pitching to go with the superb positional players they've assembled. Owner Tom Hicks also has to convince John Hart to stay on as GM.
There is no denying the energy and leadership that Miguel Tejada has brought to the Orioles, but one of the big surprises this season has been second baseman Brian Roberts. He is an uncanny base-stealer, knows how to get on base and has played very well defensively.
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| 2004 SEASON STATISTICS |
| AB |
BA |
HR |
RBI |
OBP |
SB |
| 124 |
.315 |
1 |
8 |
.377 |
15 |
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"What he and (Melvin) Mora have brought us at the top of the order is beyond expectations," says team vice president Mike Flanagan. With Jerry Hairston back and several teams needing a second baseman, the Orioles are in a good position to trade for a starting pitcher. "Their bullpen is lights out," said one GM. "But," added another executive, "they'll be worn out if their starters don't throw more innings."
The Cubs are still waiting to see if the return of Mike Remlinger will sort out their bullpen. "Joe Borowski is down from 90 to 94 to 86 to 89," said one NL scout. "That's a huge difference." ... Even the Cubs look for pitching as they are trying to rescue Kevin McGlinchy from the Mexican League to pitch for their Triple-A club in Iowa.
The award for the best offseason trade clearly goes to the Brewers, for getting Lyle Overbay, Junior Spivey, two other regulars and two left-handed pitchers for Richie Sexson. But right behind that trade is the Twins' acquisition of Carlos Silva and fave Nick Punto when they had to trade Eric Milton. "Silva has a dominating sinker, like Derek Lowe," said one scout. "He's really a one-pitch pitcher right now, but he can get better."
As the Marlins cringe from the Jeff Allison fiasco, one club offers this sobering report: that from 1993 to 2001, $191 million were spent on first-round high school players, and $124.3 million of those dollars have never seen the big leagues. From 1991 through 2001, 49 percent of No. 1 high school picks made the majors, 24 percent of whom were regulars. The college player rate was 68 percent making the major leagues.
Hats off to GM Bill Bavasi for recognizing the Mariners' problem is that they need to get younger, more athletic and energetic. Now they have to figure out what's going on with Joel Pineiro. "It's not stuff or velocity," said manager Bob Melvin. "He's throwing with the same velocity he had last season."
The Dodgers are watching Aaron Boone's rehab. He can play second base in August, then move to third if Adrian Beltre hits the free agent market in the offseason.
Will the presidential election come down to Manny Ramirez's vote in Florida?
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