» This morning, Jon Heyman wrote that the Giants may be the favorites for Carlos Beltran:
The Giants look like a possible favorite for Carlos Beltran -- at the moment, anyway. Beltran prefers the National League, the Mets might prefer a division other than the National League East and, according to sources, the Giants understandably have him atop their list.
» Regarding B.J. Upton, Heyman writes that "The Giants were mentioned elsewhere, but Upton is thought to be at best a fall-back option for them since they need a hitter, not another centerfielder."
» Jayson Stark also wrote about the Carlos Beltran market, noting:
[The Mets] asked the Giants for Zack Wheeler, the best pitcher in their system, or Gary Brown, their most highly rated outfield prospect. "Not happening," the Giants told them.
He also writes that the Mets could possibly end up just dumping Betran's salary for a smaller return in prospects:
So it's possible, perhaps, that the Mets could turn back toward a team like San Francisco, which has indicated a willingness to take Beltran's contract if it doesn't have to give up a high-end prospect. And the Mets' brass would begin gushing about all the great stuff they can do with the 6 million bucks they just dumped.
» Henry Schulman tweets that it's been made clear to him that "the Reds want to keep their catching tandem intact. Ramon Hernandez is not on the block."
» Schulman also speculates that the Giants could be interested in White Sox OF Carlos Quentin if he's on the market. As Ken Rosenthal noted earlier, the White Sox could move Quentin to save money. Although he's pretty mediocre defensively, Quentin's hitting .268/.360/.525 (139 OPS+) on the season, and would add some much-needed offense.
» MLB Trade Rumors writes that the Cardinals are shopping Colby Rasmus. As Dan Knobler noted earlier today, the Giants have interest in Rasmus, though he "appears to be strictly a backup plan." In his trade value series, Dave Cameron of Fangraphs wrote the following about Rasmus:
There’s value in a 24-year-old center fielder with a career 109 wRC+, but Rasmus is not yet an elite player and he’s headed for arbitration at the end of the season. There’s still room for him to become a franchise player, but right now, his value is more potential than production.
If the Giants' main goal is to improve their team right now, Rasmus doesn't seem like all that much of a fit. Also, as a player under team control through 2014, the cost to acquire him could be very high.
