Carlos Beltran Trade Talks Picking Up: Oakland A's Could Use His Bat in Lineup

New York Mets fans have got to be sick of hearing the names of their top players brought up in daily trade speculation pieces.

As Oakland A's fans, this is something we can sympathize with Mets fans. Typically, the trade talk, and free agency talk for that matter, circles around which Oakland players we will be forced to part with for budgetary concerns, or to rebuild a depleted farm system.

This season is different. The A's do have a few players that would spark interest at the trade deadline if they were to fall out of contention. Despite not being off to the greatest starts, Josh Willingham, Coco Crisp, David DeJesus and Hideki Matsui (all free agents at season's end) would be valuable to a contender; any member of our starting rotation would be coveted by any team in the Majors.

No, the A's won't be parting with any of their free agents unless they are involved somehow in a package to bring an impact bat to Oakland. The starting pitchers have been deemed "untouchable" according to ESPN's Buster Olney. Peter Gammons basically reiterated that point in an article posted on MLB.com.

This year the A's are in a position they have not found themselves in since 2006: contention.

It is still just the middle of May, but the A's pitching has proved that even with modest run support they will keep the A's in the race deep into the season.

The A's have been connected to the Mets in trade speculation dating back to the offseason.

Many A's fans flood the phone lines of the A's flagship radio station daily voicing their desire to the see the A's and Mets connect on a trade that would send David Wright to Oakland.

Oakland has, in fact, been considered a potential landing spot for Wright if he is made available by the Mets at some point this season, or even during the offseason.

The recent Mets-A's trade speculation centers around Carlos Beltran, however, and it dates well before this past week's rumors popped up on the internet.

John Harper of the NY Daily News wrote an article on December 7, 2010 offering his opinion that Sandy Alderson should contact Billy Beane in an attempt to trade Carlos Beltran to Oakland.

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"A's GM Billy Beane, has developed the best young pitching staff in the American League, but desperately needs an impact hitter to be a legitimate contender again in the AL West.

Carlos Beltran might just be that guy, especially considering that Beane needs to get creative after losing out on free agents Lance Berkman and - it appears - Adrian Beltre. Meanwhile, the A's could offer the type of high-ceiling prospect or two that would be enticing to the Mets' front-office regime, which privately is looking past 2011."

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The A's did indeed lose out on Adrian Beltre, and as a result we have dealt with below average production at the hot-corner all season. Carlos Beltran does not play third base, but his production so far this season would allow the A's to endure less production from that position by upgrading an outfield spot.

More recently the A's were connected to Beltran again by Sports Illustrated's Jon Heyman.

Heyman writes:

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"The Mets are seen more and more as the team likely to be the center of activity at the trade deadline. Arguably their three best players, Jose Reyes, Carlos Beltran and Francisco Rodriguez, are high-priced veterans on the verge of free agency. Beltran is back big-time, as his three-homer day Thursday showed. Some possible fits include the White Sox, A's, Tigers and Red Sox (if J.D. Drew goes down or is underperforming)."

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As Heyman points out, there will be more teams than just Oakland bidding for Beltran's services if the Mets make him available before July 31.

Despite suffering injuries the past few seasons in New York, Beltran has experienced a resurgence this season and proved his capabilities when healthy, which he appears to be.

In 37 games he has a batting line of .294/.384/.587 with eight home runs, 13 doubles, 24 RBI and 21 runs scored. He has been perfect in the outfield as well with a 1.000 fielding percentage with 59 put outs and one assist.

Inserted into the Athletics lineup, Beltran would instantly become the team's most productive hitter. The similarities between Citi Field and the Oakland Coliseum indicate that Beltran should not suffer a drastic drop in production.

Perhaps the most important part of any potential trade for Athletics fans is the expected return the Mets would seek in a trade for Carlos Beltran. Sorry Mets fans, I'm not tossing out trade scenarios, I am reporting the rumors that are out there. If this appears to be low-balling you for a star player, know that it did not originate here.

Matt Klaassen from fangraphs.com wrote an article discussing Carlos Beltran's trade value, including the rise in value his three-homer game may have given him.

Klaassen speculates that the Mets would be willing to send some cash along with Beltran to make a deal work, but still would not be expecting a huge return:

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"Given Beltran’s abilities, salary, the time remaining on the season, and the increasingly high value teams place on their prospects, it is hard to imagine the Mets getting more than a couple of C prospects in return for Beltran if they send a few million dollars along."

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I don't necessarily agree with Klaassen's assessment that a couple of "C" prospects will get the deal done with the notion that the Mets are kicking in significant money towards his contract.

Beltran will be owed roughly $6 million if traded at the deadline. The Mets are looking to shed payroll, so I am not sure just how much of this they are willing to eat to increase their return.

Regardless, I believe the Mets will capitalize on his resurgence and request at minimum a "B" prospect, plus a "C" prospect in return for Beltran. If New York pays the majority of his remaining salary, or even all of it, then their return should increase.

The Athletics are a good fit for a potential swap because the farm system has prospects that would be valuable to the Mets, as well as a surplus of relief pitching and young starting pitching that could fit into the back end of the Mets' rotation.

Most importantly for the A's, and their fans, is that there are no indications that Beltran would cost the A's any of their prized young starting pitchers, nor their top organizational prospects, Grant Green and Michael Choice.

Any trade involving Beltran this season would require him to waive his no-trade clause. There is no guarantee that he would accept a trade to Oakland, or any other team for that matter.

There have not been any reports that have surfaced yet of existing trade talks between the Athletics and Mets, but the potential pairing has been sufficiently speculated by the top websites as well as throughout the blogosphere.

Brandon McClintock covers the Oakland Athletics and Major League Baseball for BleacherReport.com. You can follow me on Twitter:   @BMcClintock_BR.