Houston Astros General Manager Tim Purpura announces the baseball team lost center fielder Carlos Beltran, left, in a press conference late Saturday.
Astros owner Drayton McLane said afterward, 'I think we were very, very competitive with our offer. ... It slipped through our fingers in the last, last few minutes.'
Translation? "We made an offer that we thought was high, but that would still save us some money. So, in the end, we weren't really wanting to spend what it took to keep Beltran in an Astros uniform. We were more interested in trying to make the fans of Houston think we tried our best, but that it was Carlos that failed Houston fans, not The Astros"
Hell, even a psuedo fan like myself heard the talk and what it would take to keep Beltran in Houston. When you're treating cash like monopoly money, what's 5 or 10 million when you're already talking about 90 or 100 million?
Me? I will cheer the boys of summer on, but the taste of John McMullen and his predecessors linger anew in the current administration.
I really thought it would be different this time. Sorry, Roger. It was cool seeing you in Astros gear your last time out.
Damn, I forgot! It's only a business.
"I think we ran out of time," Astros general manager Tim Purpura said.
Not really. Unless y'all waited too late to get serious about keeping Beltran and Clemens. I don't know enough about Mr. Purpura to fault him for this. But he's been with the club for ten years. BTW, where did Hunsicker go when he left the Astros?
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The above is my intial gut feeling about the Astros failing to re-sing Beltran. What I'm reading now in the fishwrap is that "McClane tried his best", there was no lack of effort from McClane, so....hmmmm. I'll have to stew on this for awhile.
The word I hear is Beltran will probably end up with the Mets. Too bad... he was a great part of the team. Now, I guess the aging Biggio goes back to center. And with Berkman ailing, who's going to be the RBI man? Bagwell? Kent? Good luck.
Posted by: Dash | January 09, 2005 at 02:47 PM
Kent's gone. Wade Miller's gone. Berkman's hurt and will miss the opening probably. Chatter had been Clemens would not be pitching if Beltran wasn't signed...now we'll have to wait and see. Biggio will go back to center, Jason Lane to left and Palmeiro to right field. Pettitte should be healthy to pitch in the 1 spot. Oswalt is always ready. Backe may be moved up to starter. So far, the rest of the cast seems to be minor league players. But that's what happens when the grocery man ties to maintain that 30% profit margin in pro baseball......
Posted by: Marcus | January 09, 2005 at 03:39 PM
I heard that it was a "unconditional no trade" clause that Carlos, or his agent, wanted that nixed Houston's deal. When he was with KC, evidently there were rumors of him being traded for about 3 years straight. I can understand wantin' a little "stability". But, alas, I am a Reds fan, so you Astro fans, have fun kickin' our asses again this year. Maybe you can pick up Griffey... .
Posted by: RedNeck | January 10, 2005 at 06:13 PM
Local TV news here indicated that the no trade clause may have the problem. But then the resulting chatter especially on radio is that the final 3 hours were so back and forth that indeed Houston had withdrawn any clause about no trade that Beltran did not like. His agent did not advise him of that or the resulting bids that were flying back and forth.
I guess that's why you hire an agent. And I guess that's why we hate them.
Posted by: Marcus | January 11, 2005 at 10:57 AM