Unfortunately, that’s not the way Beltre’s signing was greeted: ESPN announced the trade saying the M’s just got “another slugger.” The Seattle Times ran a story saying the M’s had just signed “the next Sammy Sosa.” “Respected scout” Don Wilke was quoted in the Times as saying his offensive numbers were not a one time aberration. “He just matured,” Wilke said. “Adrian was always a premier prospect, and last year he just put it all together.” In the PI, where they drooled over the slugging combo power of Beltre and Sexson, a Mariners executive is quoted as saying “The question is, did he play for a contract, or did he turn the corner? All the information indicates that he turned the corner.” Even the USS Mariner gushed that the M’s picked up a “franchise player who is entering his prime.” If his meager offensive output form 2005-2009 was “totally expected,” no one was saying it at the time, not even the soothsayers here, unless your definition of a “franchise player” is someone who is so great the team’s fans are too stupid and casual to appreciate and your definition of “entering his prime’ is “you’re an idiot if you expect him to do what he did last year.” Please tell us more about this fantasy world where “franchise” third basemen who sign big free agent deals off homerun titles are only expected to hit “average to above average.” It should be fascinating.

This injury may have cost the Ms a decent prospect or 2.

With AB *and* Endy Chavez out, we’re going to see a lot more doubles down the LF line and the team ERA is going to go way up.

Langerhans will do just fine in LF. Can’t speak for 3B, obviously we have nothing in the system as good in the field as AB and neither does anyone else.

I would suggest Beltre was brought here under those very conditions — as a hitter. And that’s why he’s not viewed so glowingly by everyone else.

I wish I could find where I quoted it back in ’04, but Bavasi made a point of saying at the time that if they got Beltre’s numbers excluding 2003, they would be happy.

You don’t acquire “hitters” or “fielders”. You acquire baseball players who do both. Beltre is a really good baseball player.

Well, maybe you shouldn’t, but in reality I think lots of times teams do. How many times have you heard a team needs a lefthanded infielder with some pop, or some such? There are always expectations for an incoming player, and most often these expectations are built around their offensive skills. I’m not saying that’s the way it should be, just reality…

Well, sometimes there is a difference between what teams think they are doing and what they actually are doing. A team might think it is acquiring “a left handed bat with some pop”, but what they are actually acquiring is exactly what Dave said – a baseball player. He’s a guy that either plays defense to some level of ability, or is a DH who forces some other hitter with a marginal glove out of the lineup or onto the field.

That’s the “stupidity” Dave is talking about. Every position player a team acquires has both offensive and defensive abilities, and both matter in the final box score.

It doesn’t matter what the GM is thinking when he makes the move, both sides go into the lineup. Aside from the DH, you don’t get to put Raul Ibanez’ bat in the lineup and Endy Chavez’ glove in LF. If you want to do that, you have to get Ben Zobrist or Jacoby Ellsbury.

You don’t acquire “hitters” or “fielders”. You acquire baseball players who do both. Beltre is a really good baseball player.

Well, maybe you shouldn’t, but in reality I think lots of times teams do. How many times have you heard a team needs a lefthanded infielder with some pop, or some such? There are always expectations for an incoming player, and most often these expectations are built around their offensive skills. I’m not saying that’s the way it should be, just reality…

I’m confused as to why so many people are only calling for a 1 year extension. Are they saying that because they don’t think he’ll sign another long term deal here for whatever reason, or is there something I’m missing? Three years @ ~15 mil a year would be nice. With all the money coming off the books I feel like Beltre and Felix should be priorities.

Felix should be the #1 priority BY FAR because he actually WANTS to stay here and isn’t one of those players who has sold his soul to Scott Boras (and yes, I say this knowing Dustin Ackley has Boras as his “adviser”).

Beltre will be with the Dodgers or Angels next year at a reduced price, count on it.

He never sold his house in L.A. after all.