Friday, October 16, 2015

What If Carlos Beltran Retires Before 2016?


Here on the blog we like to dream, and sometimes dream REALLY big, during the offseason so why not go big since the team has already gone home? We took a look at what it would mean to the 2016 edition of the New York Yankees if Alex Rodriguez retired at 40-years old but what would it mean if Alex stayed and Carlos Beltran, 39-years old just as an FYI and under team control for one more season, retired leaving a gaping hole in right field?

The team would have a hole in right field that could be filled either from within or through free agency with relative ease as Mason Williams is expected to be ready for spring training, Slade Heathcott will presumably still be on the 40 man roster and the likes of Justin Upton, Gerardo Parra, Ben Zobrist and others on the free agent market. The team would, again correct me if I’m wrong, still be on the hook for Beltran’s $15 million in salary but the roster spot may be more important to New York than the money at this point. Plenty of money is coming off the books after next season and after the 2017 season so the team may be willing to inflate the team salary in the short term in order to still get under the luxury tax, the ultimate long term goal for New York.

The real question, for me anyway, is whether the team would give top prospect Aaron Judge a true look out of spring training in 2016, simply hand the job to Heathcott or Williams or if the team would go with a veteran stop gap to start the season. I know Judge struggled for a lot of the second half of the season in Triple-A but while many are quick to point that out almost no one talks about the “mystery” back injury that was “no big deal” according to the Yankees although it kept him out for almost a week. Could that “no big deal” have been keeping him from being quite right at the plate? Well surely after a full spring training we would all know that answer for sure but right now I would have to say yes.

If Beltran retires I think the Yankees continue the youth movement while keeping the payroll as close to $187 million as they can. The team would insert Judge and ultimately get better in my opinion while allowing a player like Heathcott to be the 4th outfielder.


NOTE: I don’t believe Beltran is going to retire or should retire, just playing a little Devil’s Advocate for the offseason. 

5 comments:

  1. If a player chooses to retire rather than fulfilling his contract, I'm pretty sure he forfeits all remaining money owed. As far as Beltran retiring, I agree, is probably more remote then Hans ever admitting he was wrong.

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    1. I can just remember Albert Belle signing a big deal and retiring shortly after while still collecting the deal. I could be wrong, we've had a few CBA's since then.

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    2. If you believe wikipedia, Belle played his last game in 2000, but received his salary for 2001-2003 due to a degenerative hip condition. His salary was paid by insurance though, not the Orioles. They did have to keep him on the 40 man roster though. I'm not really sure why.

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    3. It had to be written into the CBA or they wouldn't have done it.

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    4. I remember there was a big fight over the deal. I think it went to arbitration or court, something like that!

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