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Post by Nyi28nhl on Jan 4, 2011 16:23:12 GMT -5
A few Sports Illustrated reporters are reporting that Beltre has signed a six year deal between 90 and 100 million with the Texas Rangers.
Umm, did no one learn from the Mariners' gaffe a few years ago?
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Post by MxT13 on Jan 4, 2011 19:53:41 GMT -5
I wouldn't call his time on the M's a total waste, he did have high 80's+ RBI's three out of five years, and also 25 homers three times. Safeco is a tough park for hitters, but then again Arlington isn't much better and he's going to be 32 (I blame the Nationals for this signing).
Assuming Michael Young moves to 2B/DH with this deal, here's what the lineup looks like: 1. Kinsler 2B 2. Young DH 3. Hamilton LF 4. Beltre 3B 5. Cruz RF 6. Andrus SS 7. Moreland 1B 8. Torrealba C 9. Borbon CF
While that only seems a little above average, especially if Cruz goes cold, it's still enough to win the West the way the Angels and A's have handled the off-season. I think this Beltre signing establishes Texas as the clean favorite. I still like their bullpen, but I'm skeptical C.J. Wilson will have the same success as he did last season.
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Post by BlackOps on Jan 4, 2011 21:31:53 GMT -5
The Mariners' deal wasn't a mistake. Beltre is a top 5 defender of all time at third, he kept that up with the Mariners. Something to remember is that safeco is the worst park for Beltre's skillset: a righty with power and not much else. It sapped a lot of his gap power resulting in mostly paltry batting averages. Here's the thing though: he's simply not as good as his last year with the Dodgers (insane. he isn't close to that good. lucky year, or steroid year, but I won't support that argument) or as he was with the Red Sox (the Monster bumped his numbers a bit, yes, but he was actually better on the road. Better than he had been all the time in Seattle.) That's actually a pretty good lineup. There's nothing offensively coming from Andrus, Torreabla, or Borbon, but they do have absolutely top-notch defense at all three positions. I like getting Young and his terrible defense out of the lineup. We've seen teams do this recently (mostly the Rays, and with no success the A's), where they value defense highly. It's been the market inefficiency forever, the boom is smaller but similar to the way power was growing in value in the 90s. This lineup has 5 guys who I'd say have a shot at a gold glove, if you value defense based on that sort of thing. Torrealba isn't in that tier but his teams always seem to pitch better, and he's one of the few players that I believe has some kind of special "toughness" intangible. I'm also curious to see how Beltre gets motivated for a playoff team. The Mariners were bad the whole time he was there. His performances seem to be based on his own motivation. Hopefully he isn't just a guy motivated by a really, really big paycheck that he could live without. This article argues against Beltre as a contract year guy.
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