Pending Options: Third Basemen (Part One)

Adrian Beltre, Boston
Option: $10M (player) Buyout: $1M

Beltre’s contract called for a player option worth $5M in 2011 unless he reached the 640 plate appearance plateau in 2010. He finished with 641, earning him a potential $5M raise. A majestic season with a .321/.365/.553 line and his choice of agent suggests free agency is his destination. Beltre remains one of the best defensive third basemen in the league and putting the offensive disaster that took place in 2009 behind him can only help his stock. Look for him to secure a much lengthier deal than the “prove it” variety he settled for last offseason.

Nick Punto, Minnesota
Option: $5M Buyout $0.5M

Punto remains a slick fielder and a generally good baserunner. His ability to fill in at multiple positions and pinch run are the only things marketable about him, though, as outside of some walks his bat is putrid. Punto is worth $5M on a WAR-to-dollars basis and the Twins could probably bring him back without much fuss, especially with the pending departures inside the rest of the infield. The decisive question is whether the $4.5M gained through declining his option is more useful to the Twins on the open market than Punto.