St. Louis Cardinals likely to extend qualifying offer to Carlos Beltran

Oct 26, 2013; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter (13) celebrates as right fielder Carlos Beltran (3) scores a run against the Boston Red Sox in the 7th inning during game three of the MLB baseball World Series at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eileen Blass-USA TODAY Sports /

The marriage between the St. Louis Cardinals and Carlos Beltran might be coming to an end in the near future, but the team plans to cover all bases when it comes to potentially losing their slugger as it’s expected they will offer Beltran a one-year qualifying offer, this according to Joe Strauss.

"Would be stunned if they didn’t. RT @Paper_Chaser72: @JoeStrauss any chance the Cards tender Beltran the 1 year qualifying offer?"

It was mentioned on Saturday that Beltran returning to St. Louis was looking somewhat unlikely, but the qualifying offer may change that a bit.

Any team that would sign Beltran would end up losing a draft pick in the process, but the one year deal (which would be over $14 million dollars) could allow Beltran to play one more year in the field before moving on as a designated hitter in the American League.

Of course, a team like the New York Yankees who won’t be overly concerned about losing the draft pick and have a sizable bank account may not care and could attempt to lure Beltran away from St. Louis with a multi-year deal, but it appears the Cardinals aren’t going to let Beltran walk willingly.

Beltran will be 37 prior to Spring Training.

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