Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets seems to be getting most of the attention from contending teams as another day passes toward the July 31 MLB trading deadline.
Jeff Passan of Yahoo! Sports offers a comprehensive look at ten major league teams and what their thinking might be re Beltran and others.
Beltran is 34, but is getting on base at an almost 4-in-10 clip, and with the Mets about out of the race in the National League, Beltran becomes a coveted commodity -- not necessarily for the long term, but as a quick fix for the stretch run.
Passan's analysis posits that the delay in activity is a matter of chessplaying, as it were.
"It’s not procrastination as much as strategizing. Over-.500 teams might sell, and under-.500 teams might buy and the strangeness that pervades baseball’s swapping season more than any other sport will make its triumphant return. Odd trades? You bet your five-tool, 25-year-old center fielder for a free-agent-to-be pitcher and a left-handed reliever!", Passan maintains.
Be sure to read Passan's post. It is a good one, even though the Indians are not one of the ten teams analyzed.
And be sure to check back tomorrow for another update/opinion.