Carlos Beltran wants a three-year deal and would like to call The Bronx home. The Yankees would love to plant him in right field, but aren’t willing to go beyond two years.
Despite the difference, the industry buzz is the sides will eventually find common ground, and the switch-hitter will slide into the middle of the Yankees’ order and take over in right for Ichiro Suzuki.
According to a free agent outfielder who the Yankees have talked to, Beltran is going to be a Yankee.
The sticking point is the length of the deal for Beltran, who will be 37 in April and made $13 million last season when he helped the Cardinals reach the World Series.
Perhaps a two-year deal with an easy attainable option for the third year can be worked out.
In the first week of November, the Red Sox were the most aggressive of the three teams chasing Beltran. Now, according to a person with knowledge of the situation, the Yankees have pulled even with the other four teams in the hunt for Beltran. In addition to the Red Sox, the Mariners, Orioles and Royals are in on Beltran.
The same person said Beltran won’t reach a decision this week.
This past season, Beltran hit .296 with 24 homers, 84 RBIs and an OPS of .830. The NL champs offered him a $14.1 million qualifying offer and it was rejected, so the team signing Beltran forfeits a draft pick.
Possibly helping the Yankees’ bid to get Beltran is the fact hitting coach Kevin Long was Beltran’s coach at Single-A in 1997, when he was in the Royals organization.
With catcher Brian McCann a physical away from officially becoming a Yankee — thanks to a five-year, $85 million deal — and the team engaged with high-end free agent talent, it’s clear waiting for Robinson Cano hasn’t put the Yankees in financial handcuffs.
The Yankees and Cano’s camp are talking, but as of Monday afternoon a face-to-face meeting hadn’t been scheduled. It’s possible that until Cano reduces his request for a 10-year deal for $310 million, there is no need to meet.
The Yankees would like Cano to agree to a seven-year deal in the $168 million range. They could increase the money, but not to the $31 million-per-year range as they attempt to get their 2014 payroll to $189 million.
The Yankees continue to talk to the reps for pitcher Hiroki Kuroda and outfielders Shin Soo-Choo, Jacoby Ellsbury and Curtis Granderson as well as shortstop Stephen Drew and second baseman Omar Infante, a possible replacement for Cano. They are also monitoring the market for closers.
As for Kuroda, the Yankees believe the right-hander, who will be 39 on Feb. 10, has two choices: Japan or The Bronx.
With the Dodgers signing Dan Haren to a one-year deal worth $10 million Monday, Kuroda’s choices to stay in the major are severely limited, because it’s very doubtful a team is going to give up a draft pick to sign him to a one-year deal. He was offered the $14.1 million qualifier and rejected it.
The question is how much Kuroda has left. On July 31, he was 10-6 with a 2.38 ERA and viewed as an AL Cy Young candidate. Across his final 10 starts, he went 1-7 with a 5.40 ERA and finished the season 11-13 with a respectable 3.32 ERA.
Despite the awful finish, Kuroda is attractive to the Yankees, whose rotation at this moment consists of CC Sabathia, Ivan Nova and three colossal vacancies. The Yankees don’t expect a decision from Kuroda until December.
The Yankees would like to add Japanese sensation Masahiro Tanaka to the rotation but the right-hander has to be posted first, and Major League Baseball and Nippon Professional Baseball have yet to put a new posting agreement in place.
Phil Hughes has drawn interest from the Royals and Twins and has been linked to the Marlins. The industry belief at the beginning of free agency was Hughes would be wise to seek a one-year deal and try to rebound from a 4-14 record and 5.19 ERA this past season, and then check out next year’s free-agent market. However, with starting pitching at a premium, the 27-year-old Hughes could land a multi-year deal.