Yankees sign Carlos Beltran to three-year deal

This busy, busy, busy day just got even more busy. Mark Feinsand of the NY Daily News reports that the Yankees and free-agent outfielder Carlos Beltran have agreed to a three-year deal. Yahoo! Sports' Tim Brown reports that the deal is worth $15 million per season.

The Yankees had been very hesitant to go give Beltran a third year, and after the Kansas City Royals jumped into the running for him, it seemed less likely that the Yankees would land him. Then they signed Jacoby Ellsbury and things almost looked dead between the two.

But after the Yankees let Robinson Cano walk to the Seattle Mariners today, that put them back in play with just about every free-agent on the market, and they clearly aren't waiting around to make moves.

Signing Beltran most certainly takes the Yankees out of the running for Shin-Soo Choo, who became a much more like signing after Cano went to the Mariners. Choo can also become the most coveted bat on the market.

Just my thought, but I would guess that trading Brett Gardner becomes much more likely now that the Yankees have six outfielders, and still need to add another pitcher.

Beltran, 36, hit .296 with 24 home runs and 84 RBIs in 145 games this past season for the St. Louis Cardinals.

He had been drawing a ton of interest from around the league, including the Boston Red Sox, Seattle Mariners, Texas Rangers, Royals and Yankees. The Arizona Republic also reported that the Arizona Diamondbacks offered Beltran three-years, $48 million. He took $3 million less to join the Yankees like he's always wanted.

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