NEW YORK -- Carlos Beltran is on the verge of following
Pedro Martinez to the New York Mets.
A day after the All-Star outfielder let the deadline to re-sign
with Houston pass, he reached a preliminary agreement Sunday night
on a $119 million, seven-year contract with the Mets that includes
an $11 million signing bonus.
"We have good-faith terms, and we're working toward the final
agreement," Beltran's agent, Scott Boras said. "We're near the
end of the it, but not quite complete."
The Mets, who haven't made the playoffs since 2000, just last
month lured Martinez from the Boston Red Sox with a $53 million,
four-year deal. They declined comment on their talks with Beltran.
New York and Boras, spent Sunday negotiating the salaries for
each season, the amount of deferred payments and the schedule of
when the money will be paid.
Beltran was due to come to New York for a physical Monday. The
sides intended to announce the deal Tuesday -- the last day before a
change in federal rules makes signing bonuses subject to increased
taxes.
Across town, the Yankees planned to hold a news conference
Tuesday to announce their acquisition of Randy Johnson. The Big
Unit also was to have his physical in New York on Monday, the last
step needed to finalize the drawn-out trade talks for a deal in
which the Yankees will send to Arizona pitchers Javier Vazquez and
Brad Halsey, catcher Dioner Navarro and $9 million.
Beltran, who helped Houston come within a victory of its first
World Series last year, will became the 10th player in baseball
history to agree to a deal worth $100 million or more -- and the
highest since Jason Giambi got a $120 million, seven-year contract
from the Yankees in December 2001.
His average salary of $17 million will tie Houston's Jeff
Bagwell for the seventh-highest, trailing only Alex Rodriguez
($25.2 million), Manny Ramirez ($20 million), Derek Jeter ($18.9
million), Sammy Sosa and Barry Bonds (both $18 million), and Jason
Giambi ($17.1 million).
Houston offered a guaranteed $100 million, seven-year contract,
which included a $14 million option for 2012 with a $2 million
buyout, an Astros executive said Sunday on condition of anonymity.
If the option were exercised, the deal would have been worth $112
million over eight seasons.
Another person in the talks, also speaking on condition of
anonymity, said Astros owner Drayton McLane raised the guaranteed
offer to $108 million Saturday night, but that figure was disputed
by the Astros executive and McLane did not wish to discuss the
money. McLane turned down Beltran's demand for a no-trade clause,
which became an obstacle to a deal, perhaps a fatal one.
"That was one aspect, but there certainly were other parts,"
McLane said. "They were trying to see which was the best deal they
could get. We were close, but there were a number of issues that
had to be resolved that never came together. There were just too
many things going on."
Boras also spoke several times with the Yankees on Saturday
night, and proposed a $100 million, six-year contract for Beltran,
a high-ranking baseball official said on the condition he not be
identified. While the Yankees told Boras they thought highly of
Beltran, they turned down the offer because they didn't want to
commit $140 million -- $100 million in salary and $40 million in
luxury tax.
"The serious parts of this only happened in the last six
hours," Astros general manager Tim Purpura said during a
late-night news conference Saturday. "Really, I think we ran out
of time. Mostly, it's time and distance. Certainly I regret the
fact that we didn't deal with some of these things earlier -- but we
didn't control the pace of the negotiations."
Astros officials said an agreement was difficult to get in place
Saturday night because of the logistics: Team staff was at the
ballpark, McLane was at his home in Temple, Boras was at his home
in Newport Beach, Calif., and Beltran was in Puerto Rico.
It's been a tough offseason for the Astros. All-Star second
baseman Jeff Kent signed with the Dodgers, pitcher Wade Miller was
let go and signed with Boston, and All-Star outfielder Lance
Berkman severely hurt a knee playing flag football, an injury that
will cause him to miss the start of the season.
Also, Houston is trying to persuade Roger Clemens not to retire.
The 42-year-old has said he would make a decision this month.
"Certainly we will welcome Roger back," Purpura said. "We're
not going to shift into a rebuilding mode because of this."
Clemens, who won his record seventh Cy Young Award in his first
season with his hometown team, already has agreed to salary
arbitration. If he exchanges figures with the Astros on Jan. 18, he
could ask for a record amount, topping the $18.5 million request
Yankees shortstop Derek Jeter submitted before the 2001 season.
Game notes
South Korean LHP Dae Sung Koo, who agreed Saturday to a
one-year contract with the Mets, will get paid $400,000 if he is in
the major leagues. He could earn about $700,000 more in performance
bonuses. ... Mets GM Omar Minaya is to have dinner at the White
House on Monday night with President Bush, his boss when Bush owned
the Texas Rangers.
------=
AP Sports Writer Joel Anderson in Houston contributed to this
report