Carlos Beltran: Making Sense of a Potential Trade to the Giants

Carlos Beltran to the Giants has already been beaten to death, even though the trade deadline is more than two weeks away. So if you don't feel like reading another story about it, you've had your warning. I will however, try to include a few ideas that you might not of thought about.

There are obviously two different sides to the story. There is the side that wants to trade for Beltran, because with his bat the Giants have a legitimate chance to repeat.  The other side holds that the Giants don't need Beltran/can't afford him/don't want to pay the price for him.

As strange as it seems, both sides are right, to some extent.

The Giants are a weak offensive team, but they won the World Series last year with the same deficiency.

However, this team isn't the team it was last year. Injuries to Freddie Sanchez and Buster Posey, coupled with the woeful production of Aubrey Huff, Andres Torres and Miguel Tejada, have combined to create one of the worst offensive teams in baseball.

Okay, well this has all been said before. What is the proper course of action?

I'm going to go with trade for Beltran. He would easily become the Giants best offensive player and would provide some consistency in the middle of the lineup and the outfield.

The proper course of action would be to either cut an outfielder such as Torres or Burrell, or throw one of them into the trade with the Mets.

The Mets want prospects as primary compensation, but they also need financial flexibility. If they are expected to take on some of Beltran's salary, they will also expect a better prospect. This leaves the Giants front office with two scenarios.

Trade A: Mets trade Carlos Belran and cash considerations to the Giants for Brandon Belt or Zack Wheeler.

Trade B: Mets trade Carlos Beltran to the Giants for Francisco Peguero or Charlie Culberson.

From a quick survey, it’s easy to see which one would be preferable to the Giants and their fan base.

Belt is a potential middle of the order guy and Wheeler could be a number two starter at some point in his career.

It is necessary to remember that neither Peguero nor Culberson project to be that high level of major league player.

The downside is that the Giants need to take on rest of Beltran’s salary. It would be somewhere between six and eight million dollars depending on if and when the trade actually takes place. 

The Giants have the money; they have plenty of money because of the postseason, sellouts etc. Anyone who says they don’t is gravely mistaken.

It seems obvious to spend the money now, rather than mortgage a greater part of the future.

There is something that nobody seems to be mentioning: What about resigning Beltran?

He has already made it clear that he would waive his no trade clause to join the Giants. That means he must have some affinity for them, whether it is for the team, the management, or the city itself.

Unless the Giants lose 50 games after Beltran joins them, or he gets left off the postseason roster, the odds of him wanting to stay in SF only stand to improve, assuming a positive result with the Giants.

Beltran is not going to command a salary similar to his current contract. He is 34 years old and he is injury prone. On the open market, the best he is going to command is three years at $30 million. The Giants could probably lock him up for two years at $16 million total, if they want to.

If he performs, the Giants can keep him and won’t feel like they threw away prospects on a rental. He has a better pedigree than Aubrey Huff, so management shouldn’t flinch at offering him a deal as mentioned.

Will management follow through? That’s up to Brian Sabean and the Bow Tie.

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