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Carlos Beltran, N.Y. Mets: The All-Star OF agrees to structure a $119 million deal with the Mets.
Carlos Beltran is on the verge of following Pedro Martinez to the New York Mets.
A day after the All-Star outfielder let the deadline to re-sign with Houston pass, the Mets worked Sunday to structure a $119 million, seven-year contract that will include an $11 million signing bonus, a lawyer involved in the talks said on condition of anonymity.
The Mets, who haven't made the playoffs since 2000, just last month lured Martinez from the Boston Red Sox with a $53 million, four-year deal. They declined comment on their talks with Beltran.
New York and Beltran's agent, Scott Boras, spent Sunday negotiating the salaries for each season, the amount of deferred payments and the schedule of when the money will be paid, the source and another person involved in the talks said, also on condition of anonymity.
They hoped to reach a preliminary agreement on the specifics of the contract by Sunday night, have Beltran come to New York for a physical Monday and announce the deal Tuesday - the last day before a change in federal rules makes signing bonuses subject to increased taxes.
Across town, the Yankees planned to announce their acquisition of Randy Johnson on Tuesday, too. The Big Unit also was to have his physical in New York on Monday, the last step needed to finalize the drawn-out trade talks for a deal in which the Yankees will send to Arizona pitchers Javier Vazquez and Brad Halsey, catcher Dioner Navarro and $9 million.
Beltran, who helped Houston come within a victory of its first World Series last year, will became the 10th player in baseball history to agree to a deal worth $100 million or more - and the first since Jason Giambi got a $120 million, seven-year contract from the New York Yankees in December 2001.
His average salary of $17 million will tie Houston's Jeff Bagwell for the seventh-highest, trailing only Alex Rodriguez ($25.2 million), Manny Ramirez ($20 million), Derek Jeter ($18.9 million), Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds (both $18 million), and Jason Giambi ($17.1 million).
Houston offered a guaranteed $100 million, seven-year contract, which included a $14 million option for 2012 with a $2 million buyout, an Astros executive said Sunday on condition of anonymity. If the option were exercised, the deal would have been worth $112 million over eight seasons.
Another person in the talks, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said Astros owner Drayton McLane raised the guaranteed offer to $108 million Saturday night, but that figure was disputed by the Astros executive and McLane did not return a telephone call seeking comment. McLane turned down Beltran's demand for a no-trade clause, several people said, which became an obstacle to a deal, perhaps the fatal one.
Boras also spoke several times with the Yankees on Saturday night, trying to engage them in the negotiations.
"The serious parts of this only happened in the last six hours," Astros general manager Tim Purpura said during a late-night news conference Saturday. "Really, I think we ran out of time. Mostly, it's time and distance. Certainly I regret the fact that we didn't deal with some of these things earlier - but we didn't control the pace of the negotiations."
Astros officials said an agreement was difficult to get in place Saturday night because of the logistics: Team staff was at the ballpark, McLane was at his home in Temple, Boras was at his home in Newport Beach, Calif., and Beltran was in Puerto Rico.
It's been a tough offseason for the Astros. All-Star second baseman Jeff Kent signed with the Dodgers, pitcher Wade Miller was let go and signed with Boston, and All-Star outfielder Lance Berkman severely hurt a knee playing flag football, an injury that will cause him to miss the start of the season.
Also, Houston is trying to persuade Roger Clemens not to retire. The 42-year-old has said he would make a decision this month.
"Certainly we will welcome Roger back," Purpura said. "We're not going to shift into a rebuilding mode because of this."
Clemens, who won his record seventh Cy Young Award in his first season with his hometown team, already has agreed to salary arbitration. If he exchanges figures with the Astros on Jan. 18, he could ask for a record amount, topping the $18.5 million request Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter submitted before the 2001 season.
Notes: South Korean LHP Dae Sung Koo, who agreed Saturday to a one-year contract with the Mets, will get paid $400,000 if he is in the major leagues. He could earn about $700,000 more in performance bonuses. ... Mets GM Omar Minaya is to have dinner at the White House on Monday night with President Bush, his boss when Bush owned the Texas Rangers.
Source: AP