Did you catch the little weekend show Carlos Beltran put on for the displeasure of the Seattle Mariners?

All Beltran did last Saturday was sprint to the center-field wall Carl Lewis style, sail into the sky like Dwight Stones and hang onto a rapidly descending baseball like his glove was filled with Fred Biletnikoff's Stickum.

	Carlos Beltran leads the American League with 27 stolen bases.

"I've been to two hog killings and a county fair,'' said Kansas City reliever Curtis Leskanic, "and I haven't seen anything like what Beltran did tonight.''

Beltran's catch denied Dan Wilson a game-tying homer, and the Royals cruised to a 5-1 victory in the contest between first-place teams. Beltran was on the other end of a similar play the next day.

His 10th-inning blast to center field hung in the air long enough for Mike Cameron to arrive, but carried just beyond the reach of the Seattle center fielder. Kansas City had a 7-5 victory and three wins in a four-game series that had Kauffman Stadium rocking like the old days.

Beltran, who is 15-for-34 in the Royals' last nine games, had at least one hit in every game of the Mariners series. He missed the first three weeks of the season with a hamstring injury, but is on pace to deliver 21 home runs, 94 RBI and 45 stolen bases to go with his .294 batting average.

Hard to believe?

No, not given Beltran's gifts.

Here's the part that is really hard to believe: The Royals, who haven't been to the playoffs since 1985 but currently find themselves leading the American League Central by five games, still continue to talk about trading him.

We aren't making this up.

Here's what relentlessly honest GM Allard Baird told Bob Dutton of the Kansas City Star earlier this week about making Beltran available: "That hasn't changed. The only thing that's different is if we were 18 games out of first place with nobody in the stands and we're losing $20 million -- then when we get to the trading deadline, I'd have to take the best available deal.''

So cheer up, Royals fans. Owner David Glass isn't forcing Baird to trade the guy who is holding together "The Little Engine That Could." But that could change if somebody whispers the right things in Baird's ear.

Come on, guys. It's one thing to be fiscally responsible and another to be insane.

Around the country, one detail often gets lost when people turn their glance toward Kansas City's morbid Beltran watch, which has been ongoing since last December. And it's not a small detail, either.

Despite all this talk, the Royals do not have to make a move with Beltran this season. That's because he can't be a free agent until after 2004.

You heard right -- until after next season. Not next week. Not next month. Not next winter.

	“	I want to be on a winning team. Right now, we're winning. But I want to wait to see how far we're going to go. If we go far, of course we can talk about a contract. ”
		— Carlos Beltran, on possibly re-signing with the Royals

He'll be eligible for salary arbitration as a five-year-plus player for 2004, which means his salary could climb close to $10 million. That's a bigger piece of meat than the Royals care to digest, especially since they must also re-sign or replace outfielder/DH Raul Ibanez -- whose numbers are almost as good as Beltran's the last two seasons -- third baseman Joe Randa and veteran relievers Jason Grimsley and Leskanic.

But every November and December there are these gatherings called the general managers' meetings and the winter meetings. That's where executives from 30 teams -- assuming Yankees owner George Steinbrenner isn't mad at GM Brian Cashman at the time -- gather among agents and wine stewards to discuss personnel moves.

This is where the Royals should allow the Beltran saga to play out -- after they have seen just how far he can carry them this year.

Kansas City Star columnist Joe Posnanski had it right a month ago when he wrote that trading Beltran "would be like hitting the self-destruct button.'' That's even truer now that Minnesota has added Shannon Stewart and the long-slumbering White Sox have begun to stir, winning five in a row to climb to .500.

Beltran not only turned down a three-year contract offer last winter, but also appeared defiant about exploring options elsewhere. Agent Scott Boras, lord of the zeroes, hinted that it would take an eight-year deal at $15 million a year to tie Beltran to Kansas City.

Lord, you could probably buy the entire Gates barbecue chain for that, with Stroud's (home of the best fried chicken west of the Mississippi) on the side.

Beltran has publicly softened his stance in recent days, saying he loves playing for manager Tony Pena and would hate to leave a playoff team. But he sounds neither convincing nor, in regards to the Royals' postseason aspirations, convinced.

"I want to be on a winning team,'' Beltran said. "Right now, we're winning. But I want to wait to see how far we're going to go. If we go far, of course we can talk about a contract.''

Baird says he hasn't heard a peep from Boras or Beltran. He says the next move belongs to them because the club has "exhausted'' its possibilities.

Kansas City lost one possible Beltran suitor on Tuesday when the Cubs grabbed both Kenny Lofton and Aramis Ramirez from Pittsburgh. Baird continues to wait and see if the Yankees or even the Orioles declare Beltran an essential item in their inventory.

In the meantime, he continues to flit around on the edge of some big-name acquisitions. The Royals focused on Robbie Alomar before the Mets sent him to the White Sox. They've been in talks with the Rangers about Juan Gonzalez, who reportedly has softened his feelings about waiving his no-trade clause.

	Mr. Versatility
	The top players this season when combining home runs and stolen bases:
	Player	HR/SB	Total
	Alfonso Soriano, NYY	24/25	49
	Carlos Beltran, KAN	13/27	40
	Barry Bonds, SFO	31/7	38
	Derrek Lee, FLA	21/15	36
	Gary Sheffield, ATL	24/12	36
	Edgar Renteria, STL	10/24	34
	Adam Dunn, CIN	25/8	33
	Bret Boone, SEA	25/7	32
	Raul Mondesi, NYY	15/17	32
	Preston Wilson, COL	24/8	32
	Eric Young, MIL	12/20	32

But you wonder: Does Baird's ideal end-game include Gonzalez and Beltran playing alongside each other in August, September and October or would he be quicker to deal Beltran if he had imported a proven run-producer to join Mike Sweeney and Ibanez in an underrated lineup?

General managers and the lawyers and MBAs who work for them talk about a concept called accelerated free agency. It's a concept that says teams that cannot afford elite players with five-plus years' service time should trade them early because the value they'll bring will drop as they approach free agency.

Cleveland had Alomar under control for two more seasons when it traded him to the Mets for Matt Lawton and a gaggle of kids, including elite prospect Alex Escobar. But Gonzalez was a year away from free agency when Texas sent him to Detroit for a six-player package of players including Frank Catalanotto, Gabe Kapler and hard-luck lefty Justin Thompson.

It's true that the business' current finances make its high-salaried players the equivalent of hot potatoes. Hang onto 'em too long and your fingers could get burned. That almost happened to Montreal's aggressively brilliant GM, Omar Minaya, with Bartolo Colon last winter.

But look how that Colon deal turned out. While Minaya didn't get everything he wanted -- not enough in some eyes to justify the high price he paid to get Colon from Cleveland -- he wound up with a very nice part in closer Rocky Biddle.

Baird can build a market for Beltran in November and December. Now's the time to let him drive up his own price as the spotlight gets brighter.

Phil Rogers is the national baseball writer for the Chicago Tribune, which has a Web site at www.chicagosports.com.