Joe Soriano
O.J. Lewis11/12 MLB Rumors: Beltre, Greinke, and Crawford
November 12th 2010 12:02
Scott Boras is either an idiot, or his negotiation tactics are completely skewed. Boras compared his client, Adrian Beltre, to Mike Schmidt; Paul Molitor; and George Brett. Beltre has had a nice career, but he is nowhere near such legends. I would compare Beltre with Vinny Castilla. For those that do not know, Castilla was also a talented player, much like Beltre. Adrian Beltre is good, but he misses the Hall of Fame cut.
Anyway, a ton of teams were interested in Beltre. I am not surprised at all. He led the league with 49 doubles and broke Wade Boggs's franchise record with the Bosox for doubles in a season. 2010 was Beltre's second best career season. Not to mention that third base is a weak position in the league right now. There seems to be no real frontrunners in the race yet, and I expect this to be a long saga. Boras always drags everything out for better- Zito- or for worse- Damon. He will do this especially now that there are many teams that want Beltre.
Dan Uggla rejected two nice extensions from the Florida Marlins. Uggla is actually one of the best power hitting second basemen of all time and one of the best Marlins of all time. Naturally, Florida want to keep him on the team. At first, Uggla wanted a five year deal preferably worth 58 million. Now, he is willing to compromise. Dan Uggla, 30, has spent his entire career with the Marlins and would like to keep it that way by staying with the team that he loves.
Geoff Blum is about to ink a two year deal with the D'Backs. He is 37 and is coming off of injuries, but Blum can play various positions and will be used for depth. A two year deal is surprising as I would only give him one. I think this deal has a lot to do with new GM Kevin Towers. He has made it no secret that he is a fan of Blum. They were together with the Padres in the mid 2000s. As far as I am concerned, Blum is a replacement player not worth a two year deal.
Carl Crawford is widely recognized as the best free agent out there. I tend to agree with that notion. He is easily the best hitter. The Angels and Red Sox are ready for a bidding war for one of the best players in Rays' history. Keep an eye on this, Torii Hunter and Crawford are best friends. Last year, Crawford led the league with 13 triples; hit .307; scored 110 runs; had 90 RBIs; and stole 47 bases. Angels owner Arte Moreno is ready to pull a Brian Cashman. Crawford will easily get over 100 million.
Ace Zack Greinke is definitely for trade as he does not like the situation of his terrible team. The Royals are looking for a bunch of star players including somebody that could eventually replace Greinke. Greinke does not want to go to a team in the east with high spending power for some reason. I say east because he could go to the teams in Los Angeles.
To tell the truth, I do not think that Greinke is an elite starting pitcher or even great. Greinke is just plain good. I also believe that the only place where he would find success is with a contender, much like league executives do. Zack Greinke would be great on a team like the Cardinals.
Anyway, a ton of teams were interested in Beltre. I am not surprised at all. He led the league with 49 doubles and broke Wade Boggs's franchise record with the Bosox for doubles in a season. 2010 was Beltre's second best career season. Not to mention that third base is a weak position in the league right now. There seems to be no real frontrunners in the race yet, and I expect this to be a long saga. Boras always drags everything out for better- Zito- or for worse- Damon. He will do this especially now that there are many teams that want Beltre.
Dan Uggla rejected two nice extensions from the Florida Marlins. Uggla is actually one of the best power hitting second basemen of all time and one of the best Marlins of all time. Naturally, Florida want to keep him on the team. At first, Uggla wanted a five year deal preferably worth 58 million. Now, he is willing to compromise. Dan Uggla, 30, has spent his entire career with the Marlins and would like to keep it that way by staying with the team that he loves.
Geoff Blum is about to ink a two year deal with the D'Backs. He is 37 and is coming off of injuries, but Blum can play various positions and will be used for depth. A two year deal is surprising as I would only give him one. I think this deal has a lot to do with new GM Kevin Towers. He has made it no secret that he is a fan of Blum. They were together with the Padres in the mid 2000s. As far as I am concerned, Blum is a replacement player not worth a two year deal.
Carl Crawford is widely recognized as the best free agent out there. I tend to agree with that notion. He is easily the best hitter. The Angels and Red Sox are ready for a bidding war for one of the best players in Rays' history. Keep an eye on this, Torii Hunter and Crawford are best friends. Last year, Crawford led the league with 13 triples; hit .307; scored 110 runs; had 90 RBIs; and stole 47 bases. Angels owner Arte Moreno is ready to pull a Brian Cashman. Crawford will easily get over 100 million.
Ace Zack Greinke is definitely for trade as he does not like the situation of his terrible team. The Royals are looking for a bunch of star players including somebody that could eventually replace Greinke. Greinke does not want to go to a team in the east with high spending power for some reason. I say east because he could go to the teams in Los Angeles.
To tell the truth, I do not think that Greinke is an elite starting pitcher or even great. Greinke is just plain good. I also believe that the only place where he would find success is with a contender, much like league executives do. Zack Greinke would be great on a team like the Cardinals.
6.6 Decrease in WAR from 2009
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