Beltran Might Be Available to Angels in the Right Deal

Carlos Beltran could be available in a trade this winter, but the Angels appear an uncertain fit to make a deal for a star they have long coveted.

Kansas City General Manager Allard Baird said Friday he expects to retain the center fielder but would be willing to entertain trade offers and consider accepting players who make more than minimum wage in return.

“It’s got to have a short-term and long-term impact on our club,” Baird said. “We need affordability and ability. If I’m taking on salary, I’m taking on players that are going to be here beyond one or two seasons.”

The Angels could offer to swap center fielders, with Darin Erstad under contract at $8 million per year through 2006. Baird, speaking generally, said a $24-million commitment “probably wouldn’t fit” into the Royals’ budget.

Beltran, 26, hit .307 with 26 home runs, 100 runs batted in, a .389 on-base percentage and 41 stolen bases in 45 attempts. The Kansas City Star has reported that Beltran’s agent, Scott Boras, has told the Royals an eight-year contract worth at least $15 million per year would be required to keep Beltran from leaving as a free agent next fall.

Under Baird’s guidelines, the Royals would not be interested in pitchers Jarrod Washburn, a free agent in 2005, or Ramon Ortiz, a free agent next fall, but might be interested in pitchers John Lackey or Francisco Rodriguez, both ineligible for free agency until 2008.

Baird said the Royals could have voids at third base, left field and catcher, with no prospect on the horizon at third base. The Angels say third-base prospect Dallas McPherson might be ready next fall, when Troy Glaus is eligible for free agency. Asked whether he would consider trading McPherson now when he would not at the July trading deadline, General Manager Bill Stoneman said, “Anybody is available.”

Beltran could command $9 million or more in arbitration next season, an amount Baird said he believes can fit into the Royals’ budget. Baird said the Royals might well be better off with the two first-round draft picks they would receive as compensation for Beltran’s departure than the return another team might offer for a player one year from free agency.

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The Angels removed outfielder Nathan Haynes, infielders Wilson Delgado, Trent Durrington, Adam Riggs and pitchers Eric Cyr and Gary Glover from their major league roster. Haynes, 24, considered the center fielder of the future when the Angels acquired him from Oakland in the 1999 trade for veterans Omar Olivares and Randy Velarde, never made it to the majors, bedeviled by injuries and expendable because of the development of Chone Figgins.... As expected, the Angels hired former major league pitcher Eddie Bane as scouting director, replacing the fired Donny Rowland. Bane, 51, was a special assistant to Tampa Bay General Manager Chuck LaMar. He previously worked with Gary Sutherland, Stoneman’s chief lieutenant, in the scouting departments of the Dodgers and Cleveland Indians.