Beltre Accepts Dodger Package

Convinced that Adrian Beltre is a vital part of their future, the Dodgers rewarded the young third baseman with a three-year contract Thursday, avoiding arbitration and ending his five-month pursuit of free agency.

The Dodgers gave Beltre, 20, a $5.05-million deal after his first full season after it was ruled that the club had signed him before his 16th birthday in violation of major league rules.

Beltre’s package includes a $1.5-million signing bonus and an escape clause after the second year.

“There was an awful lot of conversation about this [contract],” said Dodger Chairman Bob Daly, who had 18 meetings and scores of phone conversations with Beltre’s agent, Scott Boras.

“It has been almost five months of talking about Adrian Beltre every day in my life. We spent a lot of time looking at [comparable contracts], and one of the problems from my standpoint was, as good as Adrian is, we had to figure out how to evaluate Adrian when he got to arbitration in the first year.

“We arrived at a good compromise that allows us to [pay] him at one level, but if he achieves other goals he can have an upside [make more in the final year]. That wasn’t an issue for me because if Adrian turns out to deserve that upside, he should get it [a new deal].”

The Dodgers voided the one-year, $330,000 contract Beltre received March 11, and will pay him $500,000 this season, $750,000 in 2001 and $2.3 million in the deal’s final year, the first he would be arbitration eligible.

However, Beltre can end the contract after two seasons if he has at least 400 plate appearances during the 2001 season or 800 combined this season and next. Beltre, eligible for free agency after the 2004 season, is believed to be the first player capable of voiding a contract in an arbitration year.

Last season, Beltre batted .275 with 15 home runs and 67 runs batted in. He’s batting .244 with three homers and five RBIs this spring.

“I wanted to be here as long as they wanted me here,” said Beltre, who made $220,000 in his first full season. “Mr. Daly talked to me and showed me he’s a great man. Now, I can just play baseball.”

After a five-week investigation, Commissioner Bud Selig ruled in December that Beltre was 15 at the time of his signing in 1994. Selig, though, found the Dodgers and Beltre culpable, fining the club $50,000, prohibiting it from scouting or signing first-year Dominican players for a year and also suspending operations at Campo Las Palmas in the Dominican Republic for a year.

The Dodgers were ordered to pay Beltre $48,500 but were permitted to retain his rights, triggering an appeal of Selig’s decision filed on Beltre’s behalf by the Major League Players Assn.

Daly held his ground while accomplishing his goal, keeping Beltre with the Dodgers and reaching an agreement within the $5-million range league officials had strongly suggested.

Boston Red Sox shortstop Nomar Garciaparra signed a five-year, $23.25-million contract in 1998, the largest amount for a player beginning only his second full season. The deal could be worth more than $44 million if the club exercises two contract options. Of course, Garciaparra hit .306 with 122 runs, 30 homers and 98 RBIs.

Potentially regaining Beltre’s first arbitration year sealed the deal for Boras, who finished negotiations with Daly late Wednesday night after arriving at Dodgertown.

“It was a very unusual negotiation,” Boras said. “It was one, certainly for me, that had elements of where it was almost as though you were negotiating with three or four different people [because of the issues involved], and I’m sure Bob felt the same way.

“I’m pleased that we all had the focus to get back to the root of what’s best for the player, for his career and for the team.”

So the Dodgers retain a player considered vital to the franchise’s future, averting another potential public-relations nightmare.

Boras received the signing bonus he sought for Beltre without relinquishing significant, if any, arbitration time, while developing a strong relationship with Daly that might help them put all-star shortstop Alex Rodriguez in a Dodger uniform in 2001.

And Beltre got what he wanted, remaining with the Dodgers and putting the troubling situation behind him.

“I’m just happy to get it all over with,” Beltre said, “and the way that I wanted it [to end].”