Best Case Beltran Trade Scenario's

My boy JWM asked me to write on what my preferred Carlos Beltran trades would be - specifically, he asked that I "be specific; no maybe they'll get some draft picks or prospects. Tell me which prospects you would look at and what type of pick. Or give the top deals you want made as a fan (more on the unrealistic side) and the top deals you think could actually happen (realistic)."

So here's the thing - nothing annoys me more than reading posts about trading Daniel Murphy, Scott Hairston and Fernando Martinez to St Louis for Albert Pujols. Unrealistic trades rumors do nothing for me. So I will only attempt to rank my top realistic trades...

The problem with that is that unfortunately I know little to nothing about prospects from other organizations, so I will only go with some rumors that I have heard.

A few notes before we begin. First, pitching is more important to me than hitting. I read one writer suggest that since pitching will be abundant in the next few years that they should focus on hitting instead. I couldn't disagree more - they need pitching because they don't have any in the organization outside of Matt Harvey and Jennry Mejia who is out for the entire year. Second, trading him out of the division would be preferable. I mean, even if he goes to Philly it will only be a rental, but still...he'll be in Philly. Third, even though Adam Rubin is reporting that none of the interested teams will be giving up their top prospect, I am going under the impression that someone will panic and pull the trigger.

Without further ado, here is my list:

1. San Francisco for top pitching prospect Zack Wheeler (#57 in 2011 Baseball America pre-season prospects). In order to do this trade as with many others, they will have to eat all of Beltran's salary. He fits all my criteria - 20 year old pitcher, outside of the division.
   
   
2. Atlanta for top pitching prospect Mike Minor (#37). Beltran might be staying within the division, but Minor is a lefty who is already in the big leagues and could help instantly.
   
   
3. Atlanta for top pitching prospect Julio Teheran (#5). Again, Beltran stays in the division, but I don't think Alderson would blink an eye. Teheran is a 19 year old right handed pitcher ranked as the #5 prospect. The only reason Minor ranks above him is the immediate impact he would make as compared to Teheran who is likely to come up late 2012.
   
   
4. Philadelphia for top outfield prospect Domonic Brown (#4). This doesn't exactly fit any of the critiera - Beltran stays in the division and they don't get an arm, but with Beltran gone, Pagan soon gone and Bay simply lost, they need someone to challenge Fernando Martinez, Lucas Duda and Jason Pridie.
   
   
5. Texas for top pitching prospect Martin Perez (#24). Perez is 19 years old and a lefty. Texas is in the AL. It would be a perfect trade for the Mets, but probably the most unrealistic of the bunch. While Texas is all of a sudden crazy deep with pitching, they are not going to mortgage the future. AND Texas is in the AL, so Beltran likely won't waive his no-trade clause.
   

Other teams being mentioned are Boston, Pittsburgh, Milwaukee and Cleveland. Realistically, he won't be going to either of the AL teams because of his stated preference to stay in the NL. He also won't be going to Pittsburgh because they are not offering prospects but rather to pay his salary. I have no idea what Milwaukee has left to offer.

So where does he end up going? No one knows right now, but the theory I like the most is that Philly buckles and gives up their best prospect not named Dom Brown. They are probably feeling pretty good about where they sit right now, but I don't think they can sit back at the deadline and not add a bat. I am not sold on Hunter Pence or BJ Upton being the guy, so Beltran is the obvious fit. It would be the last move in a season where all their chips are all in. The team is built to win in the short term and this would push them over the top. A World Series title is definitely worth it.

Friday Morning Five-Pack

It's freaking cold here in Seattle this morning. Here is a Friday morning five-pack of sports goodness to get ya going.

• There is a very interesting situation in the Patriot League this weekend. Bucknell, who recently clinched the regular season title with a 12-1 record, will host last place Army this weekend and then turn around and host them again in the first round of the PL tournament the following week. It would appear on paper to be a big mismatch, except for one thing...when the Bison went up to West Point they got it handed to them in a 90-70 loss, their only conference blemish to date. So what do the Bison do? Do they rest their starters and go vanilla on Army? Or do they come out and destroy the Cadets for the earlier loss knowing that Army will have a 'practice' game against them before the tourney starts? To me, it's simple. Don't stop your momentum - kick the crap out of them on Saturday and then turn around and do it again. They are vastly superior to the Cadets and they need to show it.
• One of my favorite sports topics is race. It's not something I blog about much because frankly, it's a subject that no one knows how/wants to talk about. The fact is that while no one wants to admit it, race still plays an integral role in all sports, as it does society. My favorite writer on the subject, Jason Whitlock had Buzz Bissinger on his podcast to discuss Bissinger's recent comments about whites not watching the NBA. Take a listen if you have some time.
• A lot of trades before yesterday's NBA trade deadline. I won't discuss all of them, but three stick out. First, Kendrick Perkins and Nate Robinson traded to OKC for Jeff Green and Nenad Krstic. Most experts are floored by this trade since Boston essentially weakened their only area of strength over Miami, but I really have to wonder if Perkins is fully recovered from his injury. It will be interesting to see what he is moving forward, because if he is completely back, OKC may be the best in the West. As far as Nate goes, you have to believe that deep down he is miserable that he has to play for Clay Bennett, the man who stole his NBA team. Second, Baron Davis shipped to Cleveland for Mo Williams. Simply put, the Clippers actually did something smart. While Baron has shown signs of life lately, he remains a cancer; it was only time before he brought the lockerroom down. Finally, in a non-trade, Memphis' trade of OJ Mayo to Indiana did not beat the deadline. There have been definite character questions surrounding Mayo in the past, so you have to wonder how he will take the news, knowing that he is basically a lame duck in Memphis. How do the Grizz move on with this over their heads? Very interesting.
• The Sounders continue to train in Florida with nothing more than blog posts and the daily video to keep fans up to date. Obviously it's hard to form any opinions on who looks good and who doesn't, but I get the general sense that Sigi is not happy with Blaise and that he loves both rookie goalies. They currently have between 32-34 players in camp which means Sigi will need to cut some people before the March 1 deadline. I see Noonan and either Scott/Graham being cut along with one of the keepers, Johnathon Prieto and unfortunately Lamar Neagle. Again, these are based on nothing more than speculation on my part.
• Finally, I am quietly becoming very excited for the Mets season. New manager Terry Collins has brought a lot of energy to camp (hopefully he can keep it up in the dog-days of July) and the constant upbeat reporting of Matt Cerone of metsblog.com has me starting to dream of a special season. Right now I think the most interesting parts of camp is who will win the 2nd base job between Daniel Murphy, Brad Emaus and Luis Castillo; whether Izzy can make the team and the bullpen; who will be the 5th starter and whether Beltran and Bay can bounce back and have big years.

That's all I got for now. Enjoy the weekend.