While the New York Yankees have emerged as the favorite to land free agent outfielder Carlos Beltran, the Kansas City Royals aren't going down without a fight and haven't given up on a possible reunion with Beltran for the slugger to close out his career at the very place it started.
According to The Kansas City Star, the Royals "insist" that they will continue to pursue Beltran and are willing to put up his desired three-years in a potential deal in order to land him. CBS Sports described the Royals as a "serious threat" to land Beltran last week.
"We'd love to have him in," one Royals official said, according to NBC Sports. "One thing about Carlos Beltran is he's a money player. He's an RBI guy. He produces."
While the Royals have to worry about the Yankees swooping in, there are also several other of teams hoping to land Beltran as the Detroit Tigers, Texas Rangers, Boston Red Sox, Baltimore Orioles and Seattle Mariners are also in the mix for the eight-time All-Star and three-time Gold Glove Award winner, NBC Sports reports.
If the Royals were to compete with all these teams, they'll have to match or surpass the money offered, which means the Royals would look to shed some salary.
According to NBC Sports, designated hitter Billy Butler and some of the team's high priced relievers could be on the move in order for the team to be able to finance a Beltran deal. With six other teams in the mix for Beltran, the bidding may become too steep for Kansas City to keep up.
Beltran will turn 37 this coming April, and he hit .296 with 24 homers and 84 RBIs in 145 games with the St. Louis Cardinals last season while helping the team clinch the National League Central division crown for the first time since 2009 and Beltran was able to play in his first World Series, which the Cardinals dropped in six games to the Boston Red Sox.
Beltran is one of the best all-time postseason hitters as he boasts a .333 career playoff batting average with 16 homers and 40 RBIs in 10 series. The Royals have had trouble making it to the postseason as the team hasn't appeared in the playoffs since 1985 when the team won the World Series, and Kansas City finished 86-76 last season and was third place in the American League Central.
Beltran spent his first seven seasons in Kansas City, with a combined .287 batting average along with 123 homers and 516 RBIs.
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