There won’t be a reunion between the Yankees and Carlos Beltran.
The free-agent slugger agreed to a one-year deal worth a reported $16 million with the Astros on Saturday, leaving the Yankees with one fewer bat to pursue this offseason.
The Yankees traded Beltran to Texas in July during the final season of his three-year contract, and there had been interest in bringing him back on a short-term deal. Instead, he’ll join another former Yankee, Brian McCann, in Houston.
According to sources, the Yankees did not offer Beltran a contract before he signed with Houston.
With the Winter Meetings set to begin on Monday, the Yankees will have to see what else is available. GM Brian Cashman has been in contact with the representatives for Edwin Encarnacion, but he is expected to land a four or five-year deal that might not fit the Yankees’ current plans.
They could turn to Matt Holliday or Mike Napoli, both veterans who would come far cheaper than Encarnacion. The right-handed Holliday will be 37 next month and hasn’t played more than 110 games since 2014. Napoli, 35, is another right-handed power hitter who helped spark Cleveland’s run to the World Series with 34 homers.
Another option is Chris Carter, who was designated for assignment by the Brewers, despite hitting a career-high — and league-leading — 41 homers in 2016.
As of now, they don’t have a clear-cut option at DH or a veteran presence at first base to perhaps platoon with lefty-swinging Greg Bird.
They certainly will need to add a middle-of-the-order bat this offseason, in addition to a starting pitcher and likely a closer, with a reunion with Aroldis Chapman a possibility — as well as determining how to move forward under the new Collective Bargaining Agreement.
Beltran, who turns 40 in April, will be going back to one of his old teams, with whom he’s had a complicated relationship.
Traded from Kansas City to Houston in 2004, Beltran went on to have one of the most dominant postseasons in MLB history, hitting eight homers in 12 games, with a 1.557 OPS, as the Astros fell one win short of the World Series.
Beltran went on from that postseason to sign with the Mets, and Astros fans never forgave him for it, booing him whenever he played in Houston over the last 12 years.
In 2016, he finished with a combined 29 homers and 93 RBIs.