A few years ago the thought of seeing Carlos Beltran in a New York Yankees uniform might seems crazy, but now that he is a playoffs stud for the St. Louis Cardinals and not an injury plagued disappointment for the crosstown New York Mets, it could be time for Beltran to suit up in pinstripes in the Bronx.
According to the New York Daily News, Beltran, who is set to be a free agent after the 2013 season, has interest from the Yankees and the report says that the feeling is mutual from the Beltran camp. Beltran previously was interested in signing with the Yankees before, but the team did not give him a shot and now that he has revamped his career since leaving the Mets, the 36-year-old could be a perfect fit for the team, as they are dealing with the possible departure of Robinson Cano as a free agent and while Beltran is older, he could keep some of that star power in the Bronx if Cano decides to sign elsewhere.
Beltran has made his bones in the postseason during his career, but he also has put up some excellent regular season numbers since leaving the Mets, including hitting 24 home runs this season and 32 last year while also combining for nearly 200 RBIs the past two seasons. Last year he had 97 runs batted in before putting up 84 this season and after hitting .269 last season, he hit .296 this year, his best average since hitting .300 a couple years ago split between the Mets and the San Francisco Giants, which is where he was traded to.
The Yankees likely will be looking to make a big splash this offseason after missing the playoffs and coming in fourth place in the American League East and adding Beltran could help placate fans if/when Cano leaves, which is looking more and more likely. While Beltran is clearly coming into the latter stages of his career, he could be a very good option as an outfielder and coming to the American League could extend his career since he also could play more DH if he wanted to. The Yankees are also interested in adding some power to the lineup, as that was lacking last season as they ranked 14th in the AL in that category.
The sources in the Daily News article said that Beltran would "strongly consider" a move to the Yankees and that he previously wanted to sign with the team. He reportedly wanted to sign with the team before heading to the Mets and then against with the Cardinals, but the Yankees did not sign him and now the third time could be a charm for Beltran. The team did not feel it was the right situation at the time, but now he could be a perfect fit, as Ichiro did not put up great stats in right and Beltran could easily slide in while bringing some power along with him.
