With Cliff Lee off the board Adrian Beltre is arguably the biggest name left on the free agent board. The most persistent rumor was the Athletics had offered Beltre a 5 year 64 million dollar deal. But Beltre seemed to show little interest beyond using the offer as leverage against other teams. The A’s finally figured out they were being used as leverage and pulled the offer off the table.
With the A’s as well as the big spending Yankees and Red Sox seemingly out of the question the Beltre situation should be interesting.
Multiple reports state the Angels have money to spend but have been unable to land any of the top free agents thus far this off season. Multiple reports said Carl Crawford turned down a near identical offer from the Angels to sign with the Red Sox. And that was after heavy recruitment from Torii Hunter.
Although recent rumors say the Rangers will make a serious run at Beltre you would have to think the Angels will step up their efforts to sign him. The Angels know they can’t sit back and let the Rangers pull away from them in the AL West. Of course maybe the Rangers are merely feigning serious interest in Beltre to drive the price up for the Angels.
This should be interesting as Beltre is probably going to end up getting in the area of 5 years 75 million. He has a history of playing great in walk years and leveling off after signing new deals. One would have to think there is a great chance Beltre will underachieve on the deal he is sure to get.
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