Carlos Beltran may be entering his age-40 season in 2017, but the veteran outfielder/designated hitter will likely be a hot commodity in the offseason after putting together a strong 2016 campaign.
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Report: Astros ‘Hot’ to Sign Beltran
Wednesday, Nov. 9
According to the New York Daily News‘ Mark Feinsand, the Texas Rangers and Houston Astros are both showing interest in Beltran.
Along with the Astros and the Rangers, the Boston Globe‘s Pete Abraham speculated the Boston Red Sox could be a contender to sign Beltran if they’re priced out of the market for other sluggers.
Splitting time between the Rangers and the New York Yankees, Beltran reached his ninth All-Star Game last season. Transitioning into more of a DH role, he had a .295/.337/.513 slash line along with 29 home runs and 93 runs batted in.
Perhaps most importantly, he appeared in 151 games after missing 82 combined games between 2014 and 2015.
Expecting Beltran to repeat his 2016 power numbers may be unrealistic, but he has averaged a little over 23 homers and 79 RBI a season going back to 2011. That kind of consistency is generally lacking in much of this year’s free-agent class.
While Beltran no longer remains a Gold Glove-caliber defender, his work at the plate will be enough to entice a team to sign him to a lucrative, short-term deal.
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