So the market for Carlos Beltran isn't shaping up the way that many thought at the beginning of the free agent period.

According to MLB Trade Rumors there is interest in the slugger from multiple teams but it seems that no team has been willing to give him the long term deal that he would like.

This is a bit surprising, I thought that he would be able to get a third year from an AL team pretty easy and that some team might even give him a fourth or filth year with the luxury of a DH to move him to should his knees get achy.

If, and that is a pretty big if at this point, things continue to not develop the way that Beltran and his agent had hoped with hopes for a long term deal for him, he might just fall back to the Giants price range. At this point he is still the best fit to improve the Giants poor offense if he can be had on a short term deal.

It is a foolish thing to think given what the Giants have said about their payroll being maxed out and that they just had a "major" decision regarding which backup infielder they can afford to keep.

Yet I am still holding out irrational hope that the Giants emerge as a one of those mythical "mystery teams" that swoops in at the last minute but I am not going to hold my breath. Maybe the owners get together and pass the hat around.

Who knows? Crazier things have happened and until Beltran signs on the dotted line somewhere I am going to torture my self with false hope (the crazy things winter does to you).

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