The market seems to be heating up for Mets outfielder Carlos Beltran, arguably the top player on the market this summer. We got a few reports overnight and this morning on the status of the star right fielder, so let's cover them here.
- Last night, ESPNBoston.com's Gordon Edes tweeted that the Red Sox contacted the Mets about Beltran, but apparently they were, "just doing due diligence according to club official." With the struggles of J.D. Drew, some are calling for prospect Josh Reddick to be the replacement at the position, but Beltran would certainly give the team more of a sure-thing.
- In Buster Olney's latest blog post, he notes that the Red Sox, Phillies and Braves would all love to acquire Beltran, but given each club's increasingly strong odds of reaching the playoffs, they may prefer to give up lesser prospects for a second-tier bat rather than give up an elite guy for Beltran. One of those alternatives could be Oakland's Josh Willingham; Olney reports that the A's are listening on the former National.
- Yesterday here at MLBDD, I covered the players that could possibly replace Beltran in right field should the Mets deal him. The big name at the top of the list is once-elite prospect Fernando Martinez, who probably deserves a shot in the majors at some point.
- Over at SI.com, Jon Heyman labeled Beltran as the top name on the trade market for this summer, one spot ahead of teammate and possible MVP candidate Jose Reyes. Obviously Beltran is a far more likely trade candidate than Reyes, which explains the higher placement, but it's just a nice reminder that other teams likely won't be able to find another impact player like Beltran on the market.