Beltran off the board
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Beltran off the board
David Murphy, Daily News Staff Writer
UPDATE:
The New York Post is now reporting that the Mets will be getting stud pitching prospect Zack Wheeler in the deal. Wheeler was ranked as the No. 35 prospect in the game by Baseball America in that publication's midseason rankings.
Phillies top pitching prospect Jarred Cosart, who likely would have had to have been part of any Beltran deal, was ranked 43.
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Any hope of Carlos Beltran batting behind Ryan Howard for the rest of the season has apparently vanished. Multiple national reports say the Mets and Giants are close to a deal that would send the switch-hitting slugger to San Francisco in exchage for minor league outfielder Gary Brown, who entered the season as the organization's third-ranked prospect according to Baseball America.
Brown is hitting .317 with an .853 OPS, eight home runs and 39 stolen bases for High-A San Jose this season. He is 22 years old.
The Phillies are hesitant to part with top prospects for rental players. Beltran will be a free agent at the end of the season. The Phillies' top two prospects are righthander Jarred Cosart and first baseman Jonathon Singleton, both of whom are at High-A Clearwater.
The Phillies have apparently focused most of their recent efforts on Astros outfielder Hunter Pence, although a deal still appears to be a long shot. ESPN.com's Jayson Stark reported that the two sides were close to a deal earlier this week that likely revolved around Cosart and Singleton, but that the Astros backed away.
The Phillies do not seem likely to move outfielder Domonic Brown, although they would likely end up having to demote him to Triple-A in the result of a player such as Pence.
Last night, Fox's Ken Rosenthal reported that the White Sox were looking to cut salary and floated outfielder Carlos Quentin as a potential trade target, but such a deal seems far fetched for the Phillies, given the level of talent it would take to convence Chicago to part with an MVP-candidate outfielder making $5 million who is under control through next season.
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Highly advanced sabermetrics tell us that stats like win-loss records and earned run average are often misleading. Using highly advanced sabermetrics, we can easily tell if a rookie pitcher is destined for greatness, such as Greg Maddux, or is merely just a "flash in the pan". Greg Maddux was 6-14 with a 5.61 ERA in his rookie season, but using highly advanced sabermetrics, it would have been easy to see he was destined for the Hall of Fame.— Freedom Fries- I brought the Kemp scenario a while ago, but I proposed Victorino and a few prospects. I think the The Dodgers won't settle for prospects only. The reason I brought Kemp was because both him and Eithier soon are going to become FA. And I think they rather keep Either because they see Kemp more of a character issue. And although Kemp is having a great season, over the last few years Either has been more consistent. Kemp had a down year last season.— EL Zorro
- I looked at the Giants roster today, it is a mess...they had a bigger need to fill...the Phillies are stacked with talent compared to both the Giants and Braves...maybe the Phillies need to pull a deal like 1983 when the Pope came in to get the Vet group going...bring up Ryan Sandberg to give them a swift kick in the tail to perform up to their potential!!!— danielboyer
- Good, I didn't want Beltran even a little bit.— cloudkitt
