Real Reason the Yankees Should Trade Carlos Beltran

While Carlos Beltran has been fantastic for the Yankees in 2016, there is no guarantee he’ll follow it up in 2017 at age 40.

With only four days remaining until the official MLB non-waiver trade deadline, a number of teams are deliberating on whether or not they are indeed buyers or sellers. As for the Yankees, dealing Aroldis Chapman to the Chicago Cubs on Monday wasn’t a clear sign as to where exactly they stand.

Quite simply, it was a great trade. Prospects aplenty were acquired for a player who when approached in June about a long-term contract extension was noncommittal. In all honesty, Chapman was a luxury that the Yankees could indeed trade because of their plethora of late-inning arms.

Now, what about Carlos Beltran? He too is an upcoming free agent, currently hitting .305/.347/.548 with 21 home runs while concluding his three-year, $15MM per year deal. Practically leading the Yankees in every offensive category, taking Beltran out of the equation would be much more of a signal that the organization is more concerned with the future than the present.

It’s not like the Yankees don’t have plenty of options if they do decide to pull the trigger on a deal. The Yankees could finally call up their NO. 2 overall prospect in Aaron Judge; let the other Aaron (Hicks) take over the everyday RF role, to see if he can finally prove his worth; call up the newer version of Brett Gardner, Ben Gamel; or really throw in the towel and simply let Rob Refsnyder grab as many at-bats as he possibly can while playing wildly out of position.

Some will be quick to argue that none of the aforementioned fill-ins should be the way this current iteration of the Yankees goes forth in 2016. Instead, Brian Cashman should keep Beltran because technically, the club is still within striking distance of a Wild Card spot.

OK, I understand that logic–to a point. But there are some huge issues as to why this thinking could very well be flawed. I’ll start with the most relative to this season.

Say Beltran stays a Yankee through the tail-end of August. But now, the team is struggling, dropping double digits behind the division leader, and seven or eight games back in the Wild Card.

Trading Beltran would now require him to clear through revocable waivers, which last for 47 hours. During that time, any MLB club may put in a claim. If multiple teams were to put in a claim, priority is determined by the worst record to best record in the league of the waiving team.

The team granted the waiver then has 48.5 hours to negotiate a trade with the original team. But many clubs will often issue claims on players solely to block contending clubs the chance to trade for said player.

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Basically, trading Carlos Beltran to another team before the start of the playoffs, one that the Yankees may find aptly suited for acquiring prospects, will be extremely difficult, if not impossible.

Secondly, let’s just say Beltran stays in the Bronx till the completion of the season, whenever that may be, depending on this team making playoffs or not. While it definitely gives the Yankees the most legit shot of playing postseason ball, it also sets up the club for a troublesome offseason.

I’ve heard a ton of fans toss around the argument that the Yankees should simply extend a qualifying offer to Beltran, so that if he were to sign with another team, the Yankees would at least receive a compensatory draft pick. This is so much easier said than done.

Before the offseason of 2015, no MLB player had ever before accepted a qualifying offer. Well, that wasn’t the case this go-round as Matt Wieters of the Orioles, Colby Rasmus of the Astros, and Brett Anderson of the Dodgers became the first men in the history of free agency to do so.

And what a savvy move it was, as there was no way in hell any one of the three would have received $15.8 million for one season otherwise. Word has it that the MLB qualifying offer for 2017 will jump to almost $17 million for one year. Can you honestly say that a 40-year-old who can no longer play a regular outfield position is worth that much dinero?

For an organization that is cutting financial corners until the offseason of 2017 (when the bulk of their bad contracts comes off the books), the Yankees can ill-afford this ransom. $17 million in freed up money should be spent on upgrading the starting rotation, not someone who will likely be relegated to a strict DH role. Paging Alex Rodriguez and his $25 mil!

On the other hand, you could always simply let Beltran walk in a little over two months (playoffs notwithstanding), but then you get absolutely nothing for a guy having an absolute monster campaign. Beltran’s value will never again be as high as it currently stands right now!

So do the smart thing, Brian Cashman; like you just did with Aroldis Chapman; cash in your high valued chip for a bunch of younger ones that have yet to mature.