T-Minus 10 hours....

It's about 10 hours (at the most) until we know what will be going on in the Carlos Beltran deal. He has until 11 p.m. CST tonight to re-sign with the Astros otherwise he cannot sign with them until May 1. Right now there are so many conflicting reports out there that I cannot personally decipher what the hell is going on or what is going to happen, but there are a few things we know for sure. The Astros have offered him 7 years (possibly one an option year) at between $100 and $105 million guaranteed. The Mets have come in at those same terms, with some more money (rumored to be $112 million). The Cubs have offered a 5 or 6 year deal, with no monetary terms released. This is all we know right now. The New York newspapers are saying Houston is out of it, the Houston papers are saying that New York has no chance, the Chicago papers are saying it's either New York or Houston and the Cubs have no chance, and they all claim that their is another 'mystery team' out there - which is a staple of all of Scott boras' big-name clients negotiations. There have also been serious reports out there that Roger Clemens has told Houston that if Beltran does not return, neither will he.

Who is this 'Mystery' team? And what exactly are the Yankees plans in all of these shenanigans? Stay tuned tonight to find out....Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel.


The Great Arms Race of 2005 continues...

The Indians have finally come to terms with RHP Kevin Millwood and the contract terms are fairly interesting. On the surface its a 1yr/$7 million deal but has some interesting clauses. Millwood is guaranteed $3 million of the deal while $4 million is payed up front in a signing bonus. However, if Millwood spends more than 20 days on the DL this season with an injury from pitching (not fielding or batting) then he pays back 1/183 of his bonus for every day. This is similar to the clause the Tigers put in for terminating Ivan Rodriguez's contract if he has the lumbar injuries which were a problem earlier in his career. This might become more and more the norm for teams when negotiating deals, and lets hope that it is.

As for the signing itself, its not a bad price considering the rates that starting pitching was going for this offseason, and he should fit well into the no.2 or no.3 spots in the rotation for the Tribe. If Cleveland has the money, why not spend it on a guy that out of his 7 seasons has four with 200 IP and one more with 175 IP. Like the 1990's, the Tribe is getting a young solid group of players in the field from their farm system, yet they aren't developing the starting pitching to go with it. From in-house they've only created 2 good pitchers long-term, Bartolo Colon and C.C. Sabathia. Jake Westbrook is an up-and-comer for the Indians and could develop into a solid no.2 (he'll probably be the no.3 this year), but he still has to string a couple more years together first. Cliff Lee also has some potential there, as he showed some signs last year of being an effective starter. Westbrook and Lee will be in seasons three and two as starters respectively next year, and should start taking the steps to determine what they can do in the future. Cleveland has a very good group of position players and that can turn into excellent with some seasoning in the next year or two, and are about to pick-up OF Juan Gonzalez to an incentive laden minor league deal. Cleveland was the place where Gonzalez had his last great season (2001) and if he were to make the roster this season it would create a logjam at the 1B/DH/OF positions on the team.

Last year the Tribe was one solid starter and a closer away from seriously competing in the AL Central for a playoff spot, whether or not they can duplicate their season from last year I don't know, but here is their solid starter. Now they must bank on former closer Bob Wickman coming back healthy enough to perform the way he has previously in his career, and you might be talking about a very close race next year for the AL Central crown.


In other moves the Dodgers are about to add Derek Lowe with a 4yr/$36 million deal, pretty much pending on the deal between themselves and the Arizona Diamondbacks for Shawn Green. Although the 1st and 2nd attemps at that deal were squashed, it has been re-opened yet again and a window of negotiation was re-granted to the D-backs to work out an extension for Green. If the Green deal does go through, the Lowe signing will immediately happen. Also look for the Dodgers to make a bigger push for 1B Carlos Delgado then, as they will have the spot open with the Departure of Green. They better act quick however as the Mets have been hot on his trail and as a surprise to many, the Marlins have entered the fray, presenting Delgado with a contract proposal around 3yr/$30 million (there are also reports of only a 1yr/$10 deal being offered). It is known that Delgado has rejected at 3yr/$30 million offer from the Baltimore Orioles but the Marlins are trying to pin things on hopes that the short flight from Miami to his Native Puerto Rico, where his entire family lives, and the fact that he like the the Miami area will help in negotiations. To possibly open up some space under the Marlins self imposed $60 million payroll limit they could trade OF Juan Encarnacion and arbitration eligible RHP A.J. Burnett in a combined or separate deals. Encarnacion is due to make $4.45 million next season while Burnett could make around that much or higher from an arbitrator. If the Marlins do trade Burnett they will have to get a MLB-ready pitcher in return to take his spot, or a couple of guys since currently they have no one in their no.5 starter spot as well. Depending on what happens in the Carlos Beltran derby, maybe the Cubs can package a couple of their close pitchers for the two, since they still have an open OF spot as well as open no.5 starting slot.