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I'll take a stab at explaining it, at least from my perspective. I booed Beltran his first year or two as a Met but have since gotten over it as his numbers have been average.

Beltran is equivalent of the hot chick that led Astros fans on in his time with the club and eventually used the Astros as leverage to get the deal he wound up with. His numbers were phenominal in his time here, and his playoff performance was spectacular. Astros fans and management were impressed with his performance while here, and REALLY wanted him to stay. The team claims that they did all they could to keep him, even placing ads in his local newspaper in the off-season promoting Houston as Carlos' next destination and making frequent calls to Carlos. In the end, Carlos and Satan (Scott Boras) used the interest from the Astros to get the deal he got and really only used the Astros as a bargaining tool as they readily admitted that they had no real interest in Carlos staying in Houston. The analogy I make is that Carlos was like a hot chick that used the Astros to get a ride to the nightclub where he left the 'stros blue-balled and hooked with the rich dude in the VIP section.

Kent and Johnson were different in that they were more upfront in their approaches. We knew going in that Johnson was a rental and it was a long-shot that he would stay. We enjoyed him while he was here and appreciated his contributions, but we knew all along that we didn't have a shot cause he basically told us we didn't have a shot. Kent left because basically we offered him a minimal salary and would have been fine if he stayed but were okay if he left. We didn't go out of our way to keep him and really only made an offer because the team felt obligated. A lot of people were also okay with Kent leaving because it allowed Biggio the opportunity to move back to 2nd base from the outfield, where he never really belonged in the first place. To continue my analogy, Johnson was our high-priced call-girl that we knew would leave when our act was done, and Kent was like the girlfriend we had that left by mutual agreement. Neither Kent nor Johnson broke our heart because we knew it was coming; Carlos tore the heart out of our chest and stomped on it in front of us while his wingman stood and helped him.

All that being said, if Carlos had come right out and said that he didn't have any intention of coming back to Houston rather than using Houston as a pawn in a really non-existant bidding war, or if he had taken the deal from the Mets early on without hesitating and making it look like Houston really had a chance, he probably would not be as reviled as he is in Houston. It also doesn't help that he has Scott 'Satan' Boras as an agent.

So, much like the steriod situation has evolved, basically it boils down to approach. Johnson and Kent were upfront in their approaches, much like Pettitte and all was basically forgiven. Beltran was deceitful, much like Clemens, and now he has hell to pay.

Others might disagree, but this is my analogy filled explanation.

Sancho nailed it and not only that, he said it way better than I could.

Note: I don't boo. Don't get booing and think it originated in the Bronx. I thought it was funny when those fans did it and figured they had good reason. The Yankees are supposed to win world series.

The booing of Beltran has gotten pretty old after three seasons, but he was an ass.

He played the Astros for chumps, stringing us along and preventing Houston from signing another slugger.

The problem wasn't that he left for more money, but that he had no intention of signing with Houston, even as he solicited offers from Drayton and Hunsicker.

And Lee and Beltran have had roughly comparable offensive numbers. Granted, Beltran is the superior fielder, but that tends not to matter much when we stick El Burro in LF.

The Guy and his agent wouldn't let us speak to him and we were going to offer him deal that was equal if not better. So before you ask a question, do your research you dip$h!t

Sancho, thanks for the answer, and James and zomgMatt, thank you as well. I understand all of that, but still, maybe it's just me, but I knew that there was no way Beltran was staying here, and I was always amazed that McLane made no effort whatsoever to sign someone else. It just seemed to me that Drayton was relying on Beltran falling for Drayton's ole Uncle Drayton schtick. I still think people should lay of Beltran, but thanks for making the issue clearer to me.

And Kyle, thank you as well, though despite what Drayton says, there was no way in hell that he was going to match or better any offer for Beltran. Drayton tried the same thing with Daryl Kile, blaming everything on Kile and saying he tried to match or better the offer -- it took Jeff Bagwell (who was Kile's friend and who shared an agent) to call Drayton out as a liar. So I wouldn't necessarily believe Drayton's statements about anything.

Personally, I boo Beltran because he's Puerto Rican. I boo all Puerto Ricans; Mexicans too. I do it everyday. Some mornings, when I know I'm going to be really busy that day, I just drive by Foodarama and yell "Boooooooo!" that way I can get my daily boo-ing out of the way.

Liston

Liston-Is there a reason you don't also boo Cubans and Dominicans? They're pretty similar to Puerto Ricans and Mexicans, and you would increase your opportunities to boo.

John- While I rarely believe Uncle Drayton and his version of things, Gerry Huniscker really seemed to go after Beltran and acted as though he thought the Astros had a shot at him. I never came across a reason to doubt Hunsicker. I agree that the booing of Beltran should be done as the team had plenty of success without him. I would venture to say that the Astros have experienced more success than Carlos has since the rejection occurred, PLUS, he has to continue to deal with Scott Boras- the Astros don't. That alone is punishment enough for his decision in my eyes. I doubt that there is a bigger asshat than Boras anywhere in the baseball world.

Astros never attempted to seriously sign Beltran.

They played it off as if they were trying to, and were public about their pursuit of him. After the way the Astros have handled their drafts and the attempted resigning of Andy Pettitte, it is brutally obvious that the Astros never actually made him a serious offer. I believe the no-trade clause was the sticking point, why would Boras make something like that up? I think the Astros had two offers, 108 without a NTC, and one for much less with a NTC, knowing that Beltran wouldn't take either. The general public who doesn't pay attention to the baseball draft and thinks Carlos Lee is good because Lance Berkman gets on base and they go to the gift store when the Astros are in the field would never tell the difference as long as they were "in negotiations."

Clemens coming back generated enough buzz to sell tickets for 05. They just needed the common fan's perception to be that they were spending enough to compete, and not being cheapskates, like Uncle Drayton always has been.

It was Purpura, not Hunsicker, who went after Beltran, who bungled the Jeff Kent arbitration decision earlier that off-season.

But basically I boo Beltran because outfielders who leave after half a season to sign a nine-figure contract are immoral beasts.

(I don't actually boo Beltran. Other nine-figure outfielders, however...)

Also: If the Astros had Beltran and Luke Scott over El Burro and Bourn, it probably would be enough to have them in actual playoff contention right now.

I don't boo Carlos everytime the he touches the ball... just the first time he comes up to bat.

But I have zero respect for Beltran. It has nothing to do with race or his background, and everything to do with the fact that he left the Astro's hanging. He used the Astro's as leverage for a bigger paycheck, and because he waited to the very last minute, the Astro's were left with nothing.

I will never forget the half-season Beltran played for us, because he made it exciting. But his greed is what has turned Houston against him. He will never be welcome at the 'JuiceBox'

And Jeff Kent is also a prick.

So I just read what SANCHO said above... and I've never heard a better explanation of the Beltran situation... I agree 100%