Adrian Beltre turned down offers from the A's and Angels before signing with the Rangers. It turns out that one of those offers was larger than initially thought. According to Mychael Urban of CSNBayArea.com, the A's offered the third baseman a six-year, $76MM deal, not a $64MM deal as we'd heard before. Peter Gammons first reported that the A's had offered $76MM (Twitter link). The Rangers outbid both of their AL West rivals, as the Angels reportedly offered a $70MM deal.
The 2016 option in Beltre's contract is complex, as Ken Rosenthal of FOX Sports explains. Beltre needs 600 plate apperances with the Rangers in 2015 or 1,200 plate appearances in 2014-15 for the $16MM option to vest in 2016. If the option vests and Beltre's on the disabled list at the end of the 2015 season and a mutually agreed upon doctor determines that he's unable to play at a normal level by the spring of 2016, the team can defer $12MM of the third baseman's 2016 salary at 1% interest (Twitter links).
I’d say an overpayment when looking at the other offers, but after missing out on Cliff Lee I guess they didn’t want to miss out again.
Yeah, and barely an overpay… A’s offered him almost $13m a year for six years; Rangers give him $16m a year for five years (increase the AAV for the one less year), and an option that only vests if he hits some lofty AB totals. I’d barely call that an overpay, especially when compared to the massive overpays on Werth and Crawford.
If the option vests it’s an overpay of $20m – $25m to the next closest competitor. If you break it down by years it may not seem like much ($3m). If you break it down by months it seems even less significant ($250k) 🙂
As for the lofty PA (not AB) standards … Beltre needs 600 in 2015 for the option to vest. In the last NINE years he has only registered below 600 PA’s once. Beltre has some weaknesses but durability is not one of them.
It was a smart move by Texas though to include the out. Odds of him remaining as durable as he has been are not super high. But even if the contract doesn’t vest you are still looking at a 5/$80m deal. That’s significantly more money than any team was prepared to offer.
EXACTLY
EXACTLY
The last 9 years are his 30 and under years. When Beltre is 36 its very likely that it will be easily justifiable to limit his ABs a little more and get it under 600 without issue if they choose to do so. And more likely he will have an injury anyway. Of course, getting older is a big negative part of the contract.. but still, its unlikely they will be stuck with the 6th year if they dont want to be.
Another off season win for………….. Scot Boras.
That’s a hell of an option.
You can delete this post. I posted it in error.
Probably for those who either aren’t logged in and/or type profanity.
I think hes worth 11.5 mil! Thats a great deal if a team can get that! Damn!!! I mean Werth is getting 1 more year, and almost 50 mil more!
That’s why the Angels stood their ground. What’s funny is that fans and even some writers were praising that strategy, but as soon as he signs with someone other than the Angels, the contradicting backlash sweeps across MLB. So many predictions were wrong because of an over exaggerated FA market that blindsided everyone. Now writers and fans are looking for someone to blame. And they point the finger at Arte Moreno, who is probably the most fiscally responsible owner in MLB right now — and if that equals a bad offseason, then no wonder we are in a recession.
Man, Angel fans must be pretty depressed about losing out on Crawford and Beltre this winter. Now they’re praising Arte for being “the most fiscally responsible owner in MLB”? Is it your money, Ryan? Who cares if Arte’s being fiscally responsible? As an Angels fan, wouldn’t you rather have Crawford or Beltre?
I’ll take an owner willing to take a risk on a big contract over “the most fiscally responsible owner in MLB” any day.
When the other teams in your division are improving, all fiscal responsibility gets you is third place.
Do we even need to recount the success the Angels have had since Moreno took over. You are talking about one of the top 5 teams IN ALL OF BASEBALL since Moreno stepped in. A team that was laughed at for as long as I can remember (Angel fan since 1985). One crappy season and everyone is proclaiming the sky is falling and Moreno is a bum.
It’s not my money. However, I understand that there is a LIMITED pool of resources to draw from. As a fan I want a winning team. That means constructing a team that will generate the most success maximizing the available resources. Overspending is a strategy that has proven time and time again to NOT work … unless you are the Yankees/Red Sox and have virtually limitless funds. You must have loved Hicks spending $250m on A-Rod (and all the success that brought the franchise). Or the Cubs with Big-Z and Soriano raking in their $40m/year. How about the Astros? Fat contracts to declining superstars (Biggio/Bagwell) + big FA guys like Carlos Lee. The Rockies must be another favorite. Hampton, Neagle, Helton’s perpetual contract into the eternities, etc, etc. All those teams gambled big time on huge acquisitions or questionable extensions and they were all burned.
So yeah. Give me an owner and management that gets my team into the playoffs 80% of the time and I’m a happy fan. I’ll give the team a mulligan every couple years to retool.
Serious question: are the Angels retooling? Abreu and Hunter are both aging, most of their prospects are a few years away (correct me if I’m wrong), and there really isn’t anything for them to sign next off season either.
When the dust has cleared, I think we’ll look back and realize that Cliff Lee was the only real option this offseason that warranted significant dollars. All the others, Werth, Crawford, Beltre, etc.. were pretty much overpaid. As and Angels fan, I would like to have seen some movement to make the team younger, better offensively and with a strengthened bullpen. One out of three isn’t bad.
I cannot wait until the bad contracts from years past are off the payroll. Make no mistake, paying Gary Matthews, Jr. $11.5 million this season (or whatever that number actually is) is hurting the Angels.
Thank you. You are the only Angels fan I have read comments from that mentioned Gary Matthews as a bad contract. Every team has had them. Some more than others.
I have a sneaking suspicion that the Rangers, Yankees and Angels are going to end up feeling good about not signing Lee. He was not a sure thing by any means. He has some red flags in his past concerning his back and his mental processes to throw well and if he loses his fine control of his pitches…then he doesn’t even have a dominating fastball to fall back on. Still, surrounded as he is by other aces, he will keep looking good…at least for a while until Oswalt leaves/retires.
Matthews, Jr. is just one of the bad signings the Angels have made. The deal for Kazmir isn’t great either. The problem I have with the Angels is that they are willing to overpay for projects, but not for premier players. So, what they end up with more often than not are over-payments when you factor actual production. At the same time, they hamstring their budget and flexibility.
The Angels are not in a rebuilding mode at all. They are kind of in a wait and see mode, hoping their offense in 2011 looks more like 2009 than 2010 and their bullpen becomes significantly more reliable. If that happens they will be a better team this year, but probably not enough to win the division.
I wasn’t really question what they should or should not have done as much as I was wondering if they can really be considered retooling. Usually when I think of a team that is retooling I picture a team waiting a year for prospects or a better FA class and I don’t think either can be said about the Angels.
As far as the contracts given out to FA’s this year, the Werth contract I agree completely that he was overpaid and not by just a little bit. Beltre I think was more along the lines of the typical slight overpay you have to deal with to get the best free agent available, and it shouldn’t hurt Texas too bad. Crawfords deal is a lot harder to quantify since he gets a good amount of value from his defense. I think by the end of the deal it will look okay, not great but okay. But I really don’t think it will hamstring Boston by any means so it is a deal that works quite well for them, it may not have worked as well for the Angels but I think it was a good one for Boston and the position they are in.
If you are going to throw examples around, don’t forget to mention Gary Matthews Jr. Funny how I never hear Angels fans mentioning him when they go on about how fiscally responsible their team is being.
When did I say that “the sky is falling” or that “Moreno is a bum”?
We’re talking about a team that, since the 2002 World Series, has achieved success by complementing good, young pitching with a big free agent bat or two.
Now, all of a sudden, Moreno doesn’t seem to be willing to spend on the big free agent bat anymore, and we’re not allowed to wonder why?
Give me a break.
Ummmmmm, not an Angels fan but he bought the team after they won the World Series and added a couple of big names in free agancy but hasn’t won it since. Your farm system sucks now and he won’t spend. Arte didn’t get you all those post season’s, Wal Disney did with the farm system of talent that was already drafted. It is depleted and you are going back to your former glory of taking a backseat to the real LA team!
This is not only a stupid signing, it’s dumb because the Rangers HAVE to sign a horse to anchor their starting rotation.
Texas was next to last in the AL in innings pitched out of their rotation, even with Cliff Lee. That’s pretty bad, and it did take a toll on their bullpen, which could be an explanation as to why the Giants somehow unloaded their bats on the Rangers in the World Series.
Meanwhile, the Angels’ rotation was 2nd in the AL in innings pitched, and that’s even with bad years out of Joe Saunders and Scott Kazmir. With an improved bullpen and the return of their best hitter, you can’t rule the Angels out, especially since most of the players who contributed to scoring 883 Runs just 2 years ago are still there.
You can say all you want to about their lineup, but the fact is that 787 Runs is not dominant, and is barely above what the Angels averaged from 2005-2008; hardly an intimidating threat.
Their production basically is limited to the 2-6 spots, and their bottom 3 is almost as weak as the Angels’ bottom 3.
Then, there’s Michael Young.
What, do the Rangers just think they are going to pull a Robin Yount and move him to CF? Because anyone who is paying attention knows that Pedro Borbon has been on the hot seat. And you don’t just ask one of your franchise center pieces to change positions over and over and force him to DH or even reduce to a utility role.
They are probably trading him.
Basically, if you really analyze each team to it’s core, there is no clear cut pick to win the AL West.
In fact, if you do the same all around, there really is no clear cut pick to win any Division in MLB.
Because baseball is as competitive as it’s been in 20 years.
Young’s going to be DH. He already agreed to move.
I agree. I’m no business man, but to me it seems like the rangers act as an amateur organization in the way it is run. Asking star franchise players to take the bench, and giving a vesting option like the one they just gave Beltre. If I was a player and they came to me with that proposal, I’d be like the shutup and pay me my money. Rangers are embarassing.
So you’re saying that if YOU were a player, and the Rangers offered you a guaranteed $80 million, and an opportunity to earn another $16 million, you would tell them “shut up and pay me my money”???
That’s brilliant.
As embarassing as winning the AL pennant can make you, I suppose
Mike Young said he’d be the DH if (and only if) they signed Beltre. And Beltre could have kept looking for other offers if he didn’t like his option year. But believe it or not, he actually liked what the Rangers have to offer. So he signed
And to ryankrol:
Ace starting pitchers don’t grow on trees. You tell me who else they can go get now that Lee and Grienke are gone, and I’ll agree w/ you (Matt Garza doesn’t count as an ace any more than Colby Lewis/CJ Wilson do). True, they need an ace more than another hitter, but seeing how there aren’t any available…they did the next best thing and upgraded the defense instead. Now they have arguably the best defense in baseball (which you neglected to mention in your Rangers hate)
And the Giants bats didn’t just decide to wake up against an overworked TX pen. They beat the Phillies vaunted trio of aces in the NLCS, then pounded the Phils newest ace in the WS. That has nothing to do w/ our pen; their work against the Rangers pen was just add on
Yeah….winning the AL Pennant made them a laughingstock. They should be ashamed of themselves, huh?
You crack me up. The Rangers built a great farm system and their moves got them to the World Series, but in your eyes, they can do nothing right? You must work for SI and your name is really Joe Lemire.
I’m not really sure what you mean by “their production basically is limited to the 2-6 spots”, isn’t that the case with just about every team in baseball? No team has a complete lineup of all-stars… the fact is those 2-6 (I would argue 1-6) hitters for Texas are a very large step up from the heart of the Angels’ lineup.
Something I continually see from people posting about the Angels is how their hitters are all going to rebound and hold their own against the Texas offense, and yet they assume Texas is going to be basically the same.
Yes, Morales was injured, but aside from that I don’t think other players really had the “down years” that fans are wishing they bounce back from. Aybar was mostly the same player with a batting average that predictably dropped after posting a high BABIP in 2009. Kendrick has performed pretty much exactly the same over the past couple years with a BA that shifts around but nothing extreme. I guess Abreu dipped a little more than others but he’s also not young.
On the Texas side, Kinsler had a down year power-wise but has shown he can perform at that high level consistently unlike guys like Ayber and Kendrick. Borbon played terribly to begin the season, and there was an unproductive mess at 1B for most of the year until Moreland stepped in to be average. I’ll wait to make a call on Andrus.
Andrus, Kinsler, Cruz, Hamilton, Beltre, Young isn’t just a little better than Kendrick, Aybar, Abreu, Morales, Hunter, Callaspo (I know I’m not listing them in their batting order), it’s a lot better.
I don’t think the Angels are out of it and I’d definitely take their rotation over Texas, I just see these posts a lot and I don’t think there’s any reason to believe the Rangers’ lineup is overrated.
Oh and as for “you don’t just ask one of your franchise center pieces to change positions over and over and force him to DH,” yes you do if it’s what’s best for the team. You always do what’s best for the team.
Kinsler worries me. I really thought he had some personal issues this season. He has documented ADD, but swears that has nothing to do with how he behaves on the field. Maybe the injuries this season depressed him and caused him to put too much pressure on himself when he came off the DL, but I think Wash should keep a close eye on him this coming season.
Out of respect for your division rival, please replace Callaspo with Mike Napoli, who led the Angels in HR last year…
I only didn’t do that because I wasn’t sure how much playing time he’s going to get but I guess it’s fair to say that even half a season of Napoli is more threatening than a full season of Callaspo.
I’m not a Ranger’s fan, by the way.
Complete hogwash. The Rangers were on track to win the division without signing Lee. Their team ERA was lower than the Angels, not by a lot, but still. The obvious thing to say is that the Rangers had the better bullpen.
It would be great to have starters who could go deep into games, but what you fail to understand is that Nolan Ryan and his people are aware of that and have been working on getting the starters to work deeper. That mentality could pay off as early as this next season.
Nobody is ruling the Angels out of contention. How could they when the Angels still have a good roster and pretty good pitching. However, I don’t see them finishing above 2nd place as long as the Rangers stay reasonably healthy…and they may yet bring in some talent at the trade deadline this summer to push them over the top again.
Julio Borbon is still learning. Give him time. It took a year for Elvis to securely grasp his role as the starting SS. Wash has said he is committed to giving Julio a chance to keep the CF job. It is a lot of pressure, but he has the talent to be a dominant CF.
MY is the DH now. The Rangers have spoken about trying him at 1B, but only as relief for Moreland. He will be DH and relief for all the infield positions. No CF for Young.
I disagree that you can’t right now pick the Rangers to be the favorite to win the division just based on them keeping their core intact. Losing Vlad isn’t going to end the Rangers.
First off, they’re not trading Michael Young. That much has already been established. He’s going to be their primary DH, and will spend a fair amount of time playing various infield positions. And what’s wrong with that? It gives them a ton of flexibility, and they now have MUCH better defense at the hot corner. Sure, it’s a lot of money to tie up. But it’s their money. Not ours. And with Cliff Lee off the board, how else could they have spent it better? On Carl Pavano!?!?
And what do you mean, baseball is as competitive as it’s been in 20 years??? You don’t honestly think the Orioles or Blue Jays have a shot in the AL East, do you? Or that the Indians or Royals have a shot in the AL Central? Or that the Pirates, Astros, Nationals, Mariners, Diamondbacks, or even the Mets or Cubs are going to have much of a chance at the playoffs this year?
I’m not sure I get your point about the Rangers production “being limited to the 2-6” spots, either. Does Elvis Andrus not exist? And how many teams actually DO get a lot of production from their 7-9 hitters?????
And who is Pedro Borbon?
Well, it WAS our money until we give it to them.
“anyone who is paying attention knows that Pedro Borbon has been on the hot seat.”
Anyone who is paying attention knows that his name is Julio Borbon. But yeah, you really know your stuff. Your Angels homerism is to such an extreme that it’s comical. Your arguments for why the Angels are just as good as the Rangers are flimsy at best and reek of desperation. As others have pointed out, saying that the Rangers really only get production out of their 2-6 spots is just plain idiotic. First of all, every other team only gets production out of those slots. Secondly, you neglected to mention Elvis Andrus, a .280/45-50 SB-type leadoff hitter who is only getting better. Thirdly, you apparently didn’t watch the World Series because if you had, you would have seen that Mitch Moreland was one of the Rangers’ most productive hitters. He’s no All-Star by any means, but to say that he doesn’t give the Rangers any meaningful production out of the #9 slot if just ignorant. I also like how you neglected to mention team defense. Clearly you are unaware of how poor Michael Young’s defense was at 3B. The World Series would have taught you that. Beltre now gives the Rangers the best defensive left side of the infield in baseball. That alone helps pitching by saving runs. The Rangers’ starting rotation isn’t great, but it’s nowhere near as bad as you make it out to be. CJ Wilson and Colby Lewis are both very legit and can eat a lot of innings. Both are quality #2-type guys. Tommy Hunter is decent and can serve as a very capable back-of-the-rotation guy. Then there’s Brandon Webb. While there are certainly no guarantees with him, he could easily put up numbers similar to Colby and CJ. He was a dominant Cy Young winner just 3 years ago. Even if he fails, the Rangers have a lot of young talent in Derek Holland, Alexi Ogando, Michael Kirkman, Neftali Feliz, and Tanner Scheppers, all of whom could grab a spot and fit in very nicely. Plus you are discounting the option of the Rangers adding a top starter at the trade deadline, just like they did last year with Lee. No, the Rangers’ rotation doesn’t compare to that of the Angels or A’s, but it is still a solid one.
Oh, and since you claim to have such insight on the Rangers, you might want to watch the Adrian Beltre press conference and the multiple interviews with Jon Daniels, Chuck Greenberg, Ron Washington, and Michael Young concerning Young’s future with the team. Young is going nowhere. He readily volunteered to be a super-utility DH. He will still play in the field occasionally, but his bat will be in the lineup every day.
I think Ogando and Kirkman would make excellent starters. They have good mechanics, though Kirkman needs to work on his walk ratio. Thanks for your comments though. It needs repeating that although the Rangers are gambling a bit on good numbers from Webb and Rhodes, they still have options to fill out the rotation and still have a great bullpen.