While Scott Boras can celebrate a huge victory in Jayson Werth’s deal, things are looking a bit bleaker for another one of his clients. The market for Adrian Beltre is growing smaller by the day, as the top free agent third baseman has lost three suitors in just over the last 24 hours.
The first blow came from the Oakland Athletics, who had recently been seen as the favorites to pick up Beltre. Apparently tired of having their offers to Beltre rejected and ignored, Billy Beane withdrew his team from contention.
Shortly thereafter, the Red Sox completed their deal for Adrian Gonzalez. While for a while it looked as though the trade were dead and the Sox would shortly be running to Beltre, a quick turnaround left no place for Beltre in the Fenway infield.
Now, with the Orioles trading for Arizona third baseman Mark Reynolds, the only team remaining from his original major suitors seems to be the Angels. That doesn’t bode well for the massive contract that Beltre is said to want (upwards of 5 years, $90 million).
While it’s never a good idea to count Scott Boras out, it’s hard to imagine this offseason has gone the way he’d want for Adrian Beltre.