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All around me are familiar faces
Worn out places, worn out faces
Beltran finally in the daily races
Mets are going nowhere, going nowhere
And their tears are filling up their glasses
No expression, no expression
So that's it. Beltran signed a mega-deal with the Mets, led them to the playoffs once, and is officially a Met no more. I can't say I blame the Mets for signing him and I can't say I blame Beltran for the Mets sucking other than injuries that were outside of their control. But clearly the Mets plan is flawed and they need to fix it because they got the money but they haven't spent it wisely. What they do from this point forward with Jose Reyes and David Wright will be crucial to their future success, but getting Zach Wheeler in return for a player who was going to walk away without any compensation is the best case scenario they could ever hope for.
In Beltran the Giants are getting a middle-of-the-order hitter who exploded in his half-season trial with the Astros many years ago and perhaps he can provide that same kind of pop in San Francisco. He's a career .310/.375/.483 hitter in just 22 games in SBC Park. I would say his value remains the same.
In Wheeler the Mets are getting their new top prospect. Wheeler has struck out 98 batters in 88 innings this year but with 47 walks allowed. Hopefully the Mets take it easy on the 21 year old and not rush him like they do everybody else At his current pace he should be full-time by 2013 and he has #1 potential, but probably a safer bet that he's a future #2.
More after the jump...
- Jon Heyman says the last team still trying to acquire Hunter Pence is the Atlanta Braves. The Phillies reportedly offered a deal centering on Jonathan Singleton and Jarred Cosart and that still wasn't enough to pry Pence from Houston. I'm not sure that I would have rejected that deal if I'm the Astros, as it is a money saver and potentially gives you two good players and right now you only have like three good players and no farm system. But if it's because they think the Braves can do better, they're right about that. The Braves have at least three or four pitching prospect better than Cosart. This one could come down to the wire.
- Erik Bedard potentially makes his last start as a Seattle Mariner tomorrow night. If there are comparisons to be made between Bedard this year and Cliff Lee last year they would be: lefty, very good, Mariner, thin market on #1 and #2 starting pitchers. The big difference of course is that Lee is much better and way more healthy, and he also came with type A compensation. The Mariners snagged 4 players for Lee including Justin Smoak and all 4 players have in some roundabout way contributed to the major league roster this season. That's pretty good. In return for Bedard they should expect about half of that. There's a lot of teams in on him apparently, which could drive the bidding up, but I think the Mariners would be stupid not to trade him.
- Kosuke Fukudome goes from being a Cub to being an Indian. His fantasy value goes from being unrosterable in NL to being unrosterable in AL. Unless your league counts OBP and nothing else.
- There seems to be a good chance that Heath Bell is traded this weekend and the Rangers are apparently the most aggressive. Now would be a good time to try and sell on Bell if you can though it's not 100% necessary and you're still taking a chance either way. It could also be a good time to try and get Mike Adams. The Rangers have a really deep farm system and the Padres could do very well in a deal with Texas.
- Rickie Weeks, who is leading the league in plate appearances, will no longer lead the league in plate appearances as he hit the DL. The Brewers are looking for middle infield help and that could include a player like Jamey Carroll or Adam Kennedy. Slight upgrade for either of those players and the Brewers shouldn't have to give up much to get a 2nd tier infielder like that.
Feel free to use this as an open thread for trade rumors and happenings!