Goodbye, Adrian
Dave · December 7, 2009 at 9:24 pm · Filed Under Mariners
I will miss your defense and the crazy antics. It was great having you here. Now go somewhere with a normal left field and remind people that you can still hit.
I will miss Beltre!
In a normal offensive environment he’s gonna hit .290/30/100 and people will wonder how it happened.
Sigh. At least some appreciated you King Awesome.
Paz hacia fuera!
I am very interested in seeing what Beltre ends up signing for. I was shaking my head when Peter Gammons suggested that clubs were looking to bring his price down to 2 years at $7-$8 per. Why would he settle for that when he could get 1 year at $12 million by accepting arbitration?
[ot]
Any team that gets Beltre for 2@$15M should be found guilty of highway robbery. I can’t believe Gammons would even report that.
I’d think that Beltre will get something on the order of 3@$30-35.
Assuming he agrees to wear a cup.
It’s really unfortunate that our ballpark had such a great affect on his offensive stats. He fit prefect with our team and our city. The fans really appreciated him. However, for both sides I can see why this giving it a second shot just didn’t add up. His offensive numbers wont get much better in this ballpark and on the open market I honestly think someone is going to take a shot and give him at least 3/30M if not 3/36mil. And for us it’s just not worth it, especially now with Chone, our young talent, and flexibility. It’s really unfortunate, I for one appreciate every second he played for seattle and wish him the best.
Prediction; Twins 3-years/$34M
Goodbye Adrian, you will be missed by many!! I’m relatively young, but he is the absolute best I’ve ever seen at barehanding a slow roller down the line and firing a strike to first, a thing of beauty. Best of luck Mr. Beltre, may you never sign with the Yankees and have a glorious career.
We shall miss you!!!! WElcome to the Chone era!
Yo Adrian! Seattle is going to miss you. Thanks for five great years, and best of luck to the rest of your career.
Dave, I was wondering if there was any strategic value in waiting to the last minute to turn down arbitration or is it Scott Boros just being an ass?
I loved Adrian while he was here, as he was one of my favorites. I will miss him.
good luck to adrian where ever he ends up, hopefully a left field friendly national league team. i will miss his hot corner highlight reel plays
While his decision to decline arbitration likely spells the end for AB in Seattle, it’s probably best for the team’s off-season hopes. In Safeco he’s a +2.5-3 win player and his probable $12MM in arbitration would’ve made him a slightly bigger bargain than the market price for WAR. This doesn’t even take into account the fact that Figgins natural position is 3B and having him there will optimize his value as well. In a more hitter friendly park Beltre is a +3-4 win player and will be a much better value, so as much as it hurts to lose him…the M’s will be better off.
Now Jack Z needs to continue to work his magic and find wins for far less than Beltre’s $4MM/win would’ve cost. i.e. Nick Johnson: 2yr @ $7.5MM, Rich Harden: 1yr @ $7MM, a Felix extension: 6yr @ $96MM, and maybe throw in a RH platoon partner for Griffey/Carp via trade or off the trash heap.
So, does the Green Monster count as a “normal left field?”
Dude would have 60 doubles in Fenway…
(Better Boston than LALALALALALALA)!
That dude sure could pick it but certainly won’t miss his horrific approach and plate discipline! Adios amigo!
On MLB Hot Stove tonight the chatter made me think that Baltimore was one place Beltre may end up.
Swung on and Beltred! I’m going to miss that call and his awesome defense as well. I wish him well. I hope he isn’t so underappreciated in his new city. Now here’s hoping Z (and Chone) can maximize the budget room and positional flexibility this opens up.
My buddy from LA will be happy.
I’ve texted him with “BELTED! BELTRE!” after every Beltre homer since he signed here. It was a nice tradition, and I’ll miss it.
Not as much as I’ll miss that defense, though.
I wonder how that crazy bearded dude is gonna react to the news…
I apologize for this being off topic, but [off-topic]
Woooo!
Beltre has a great glove but I’m sick and tired of watching him swing at awful pitches. Again and AGAIN!
Then we have the shuffling feet at the plate!
The pointing to first for a call, which comes across as showing up the Umps.
WELCOME TO SEATTLE CHONE FIGGINS!
[dupe]
zdhale,
Fangraphs.com->Glossary->Win Values
Could someone point me to Dave’s post(s) on how AB actually out-performed his contract? Will be helpful in the inevitable battles I’ll face when trying to defend him as he moves on.
Found one: http://bit.ly/vWnMp
Is there more than “AB, A Retrospective.”
Adrian Beltre, Retrospective or his value on Fangraphs.
I always find it disappointing when Dave, or I, can’t express some positive sentiment about someone like Beltre without people wandering by to drop their pants and crap all over the place.
Is it really that hard to just let a moment like that go, and wish Beltre the best? We all know you hate watching him bat, because you’ve been complaining about it for years. It’s okay not to make the point once.
You mean this guy?
Let’s have a moment of silence for Red.
Well, we got to watch one of the best defensive 3B to play the game for several years of his prime. Also one of the toughest guys to ever walk, occasionally hobble, onto a ball field.
But he’s not dead! It seems possible we’ll see him back several times with the Anaheims. Swapping 3Bs?
If I look up the definition of the phrase “damning with faint praise”, will I see this sentence provided as an example?
Adrian Beltre was the Seattle Mariners’ best thirdbaseman ever.
There’s certainly no advantage in doing it sooner.
Boras wasn’t being an ass. He was exercising his client’s negotiated rights. It’s not even possible for him to be an ass as long as he’s following the rules.
I will certainly miss his toughness and INCREDIBLE defense, two aspects of athleticism I value highest in baseball, but it got so that expecting anything on offense was a fallacy.
In total, though, I will miss his presence on our team. Good luck AB, thanks for the amazing defense.
-
I don’t have, or even want to track down, the statistics to prove it, But before Edgar was too injured to play in the field, he was a pretty damned good 3B.
And of course there was ‘Hound Dog’ and Lenny ‘Hurricane’ Randle.
Hmmm, I guess you’re right, Paul B.
That’s awfully kind of you, Evan. I feel Boras is capable of being an ass in his sleep, but if I were negotiating a contract and he offered, I would definitely want him on my side.
Thank you Adrian for your time with the Mariners. I loved watching you play, and wish you well wherever you end up!
I realize that it’s a near certainty that Beltre is gone, but I’m still holding out hope that Jack Z may still try to work out a multi-year deal with him now that he’s not stuck paying him in the neighborhood of $12M in 2010. Figgins would then play either 2B or LF.
Unlikely, I know, but not totally out of the realm of possibility is it?
Anyway, if he’s gone I’ll miss him.
AB, you made going to games fun. I loved how you fired balls back to pitchers following a strike out and throw around the horn. I loved how you’d make Felix crack a smile as he tried to catch your heater coming back to the mound. Thanks and good luck.
I will miss Adrian Beltre as a Mariner. His defense, his toughness, his hitting ability when he was on, his pointing down to appeal to the first base ump. He was great to watch, and, I think, watching him was a little bit sweeter knowing that he was so underappreciated by most of the fanbase and the writers. He is a guy I’ll hope does well whereever he ends up, just so long as his team loses when they play us.
Adrian is, to me, more than just a good player who was fun to watch, though. He is a prime example of what we can learn about player value when we try a little harder. For me, he’s one of the poster-children for a better way.
When he played that extra day in extreme pain before his second surgery last summer, I remember just thinking how I admired him. Godspeed, AB.
I remember when the catcher got hurt by a foul tip and there wasn’t one left on the bench to replace him. While the manager and trainer huddled around him to see if he could continue, Beltre was in there saying he’d take over behind the plate. It wasn’t necessary, but that was Adrian for you.
I’ll sure miss watching him at third. Some of the best games I’ve attended at Safeco were tucked in tight behind third base. The combination of his movement, quick hands, lazy transition from catch to throw (always checking that ball) and the almost invariably laser-shot throw to first — all deeply memorable. And some of those swings were pretty memorable too….Having said all that I’m looking forward to Chone. Aspera ad astra and so on.
He had explosive feet, fluid hands and oozed the rugged grace intrinsic to all great third basemen. But that amazing arm – slinging small, leather comets across the diamond like some mythological leather comet-throwing god – is what I’ll remember most about Adrian Beltre. Regardless of where he was, where his momentum was carrying him and what angle he was forced to throw from, the result was always the same: a heavy fastball to first base, right on target, right on time.
Thanks for the memories, Adrian.
I searched and found Dave and Derek’s All Time all Mariner Roster for Third Base.
In rereading their evidence, Edgar most likely did have the best season ever for a Mariner third baseman, but they both used Edgar at DH on the all time team so they used Beltre’s 07 season at third.
Without getting into the whole chemistry thing, it also seemed to me that Beltre was one of the guys who everyone else on the team enjoyed being around.
And what a glove.
AD, best of luck–hopefully in the National League.
Good luck Beltre!! Now, why are we not in on that Doumit race!! Would love to see him in a Mariner’s uniform.
A poem.
We can’t yet know how much we’ll miss
The dives, the leaps, the wizardry
For he who mans the third base bag
Shall not surpass ye olde Beltre
We thought those plays could not be made
But He disproves us time again
A god atop His canvas throne
Big Jack sat back and wept for hours
And stared at charts of UZR
The King not long for Safeco Field
I’ll miss you, Adrian.
AB’s defense was amazing, but I never saw an infielder throw like him- from a knee, from his butt, or even horizontal he could gun it. I’ll miss that.
fielding bunts and slow rollers ….
I guess not. Shannon Drayer just reported that Boras said the M’s are interested.
Of course, Boras is going to do everything he can to make it sound like every team is bidding on his client, so take that for what it is worth.
it would be nice to think we could have an infield with beltre, wilson and figgins but i would take it with a pinch of salt since it is coming from Boras.
One day I’ll tell my Grandchildren about the 3rd baseman with the golden glove and steel testes.
IF, on the off chance, Beltre ends up back here.. how much of a possibility is Figgins at 2B instead of LF? I’m a Saunders fan and don’t want to see him get blocked. And, I imagine Lopez could then be dealt for some pitching.
Well, apparently Zduriencik is only saying that Figgins will play somewhere in the infield and isn’t committing to him being the third baseman yet. So there’s some speculation now that Z may still be trying to sign Beltre.
It’s probably still unlikely but if it happened I guess that means Figgins at 2B and Lopez either at first or used as trade bait.
Not completely out of the realm of possibilities; the M’s have historically, from Woody Woodhead on, had a pretty good working relationship with Boras. Sure, they weren’t suckered into signing ARoid for $250 Mill., but have usually negotiated with him without too much animosity. I wouldn’t be completely shocked to see Beltre back with the M’s next year.
Woodhead? ARoid? Really?
Not everybody here is all growed up yet. Alas.
Random AB memory:
Rocket ground ball to 3rd base. Adrian comes up with the ball, it spinning crazily in his glove. He takes a few seconds to enjoy a hard hit ball spinning in his glove. Then he fires it to the pitcher.
There was a pure joy of the game about him.
Woody WOODWARD must have had something in his skull to keep it from collapsing. If ‘Tek and Lowe for Slocumb was his ONLY F’up, that would be enough to vilify him forever. It was, unfortunately, part of a pattern, not an isolated event.
Didn’t realize his family was so easily offended. Get over it.
Defending Alex Rodriguez? Sorry girlfriend, I can’t.
BTW, we ARE discussing a SPORT here, not exactly something that demands maturity and gravitas.
And the “not all growed up yet” comment continues to resonate….
I remember being the only 13 year old on USSM 5 years ago and wondering why everyone thought I was an idiot. Good times.
So the Red Sox have shipped Lowell (and lots of cash) off to the Rangers to clear the decks for Beltre (apparently). This sucks — not only is Beltre now certainly gone, but Texas is improving.
On the other hand, I’m really really happy for Beltre. As I said elsewhere, Boston is a really good fit for him: that big ol’ Monster for him to whack balls at and over, and a huge audience for his defensive wizardry — he may finally get all the Web Gems he deserves. Plus I can’t wait to see what the Sons of Sam Horn make of his self-appeals to first. Or the Bronx bleacher creatures either.
Still don’t like how the AL West is shaping up so far, though.
Hey, I remember you!