The New York Yankees and Carlos Beltran have agreed to terms on a three-year, $45 million contract, according to sources.Beltran signing with the Yankees capped off the second crazy day of movement this week in Major League Baseball. Earlier in the day, Robinson Cano signed with the Seattle Mariners, Curtis Granderson joined the New York Mets and Hiroki Kuroda agreed to return to the Yankees.
Last season with the Cardinals, Beltran hit .296 with 24 home runs for the National League Champions.
Beltran had been seeking a three-year deal all offseason, and it appeared the Kansas City Royals were the only team willing to give the 37-year-old the pivotal extra year, until the Yankees budged.
Here’s the tweet from Jessica Beltran, Carlos’s wife, from this evening.
https://twitter.com/ivanalenin/statuses/409155538266902529
The fact that the Yankees were willing to go to a third year, as well as them being closer to a World Series than the Royals, was the deal breaker for Beltran.
Beltran is considered one of the best postseason players ever, and has the postseason record for the highest slugging percentage and OPS.
Age will be the biggest concern here. He’s soon to be 37, and with Alfonso Soriano, Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells all on board for next season, there’s no guarantees that all these players will stay healthy and fresh for the duration of the season.
