Carlos Beltran homered again on Wednesday night, his 15th bomb of the season.
This wasn't too long after we wrote about the Giants fading in the race for Beltran, whom the Mets have made available to anyone willing to pony up for a rental of their rejuvenated right fielder.
Well, not to pile on, but it appears the Giants are getting even further from being able to bring Beltran out to the West Coast.
That's because the team won't give up a prospect to the Mets, and would prefer to simply pay most of Beltran's salary, according to Andy Martino of the New York Daily News.
There is a silver lining here, though, because as Martino notes, the Giants' willingness to take on money through additional payroll is a substantial difference from where they stood earlier in the year.
Martino cites "robust attendance and other factors" (a World Series win perhaps?) as reasons why the Giants would prefer to pay money for Beltran instead of giving up a prospect.
This is pretty logical, since Beltran would make San Francisco one of the top teams chasing another World-Series title, which would result in more revenue and sustained attendance.
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That potential boon also makes it an interesting development to watch with respect to what kind of prospect the Giants would consider giving up if push comes to shove and the Mets simply refuse to move Beltran without getting a youngster in return.
Making such a move isn't exactly the Giants modus operandi, but then again, they've never been in this position before either.
