Beltran’s price tag: $119M

Five-tool free agent Carlos Beltran has a magic number, and it’s $119 million. And that’s just for starters.

According to baseball sources, agent Scott Boras is saying he will advise interested teams to start their bidding at $119 million if they intend to be serious players for the free-agent center fielder.

Teams have discussed possible salary parameters with Boras, but it’s believed neither the New York teams, the Yankees nor the Mets – two of about six Beltran pursuers – will submit an official offer until early next week. Baseball people expect Beltran to sign a few days later, by Jan. 8, the last day he’s allowed by rules to return to the Houston Astros.

One Yankees official, asked about the $119 million figure for Beltran, who hit .267 with 38 home runs, 104 RBIs and 42 stolen bases, characterized it as “very steep.”

The Yankees will try to limit Beltran’s 2005 salary, considering their expanding payroll, but figure to have money saved for 2006, when the contracts of Bernie Williams and Kevin Brown will come off the books.

When the $119 million figure was mentioned to a Mets executive, he responded, “That’s a big number and a lot of years. I haven’t heard those numbers.”

The Mets will be buoyed significantly by the launching of their new TV channel in 2006. Its ad rates will be based on their 2005 performance, but they are disinclined to enter a bidding war with the Yankees. The Mets’ first priority in their meeting with Beltran, set for Monday or Tuesday, will be to gauge his interest.

“We have to make sure he’s committed to wanting to come,” the Mets exec said. “We’re not just going to throw numbers out there.”

The Mets are more focused than ever on Beltran, though, as they’re growing discouraged by the fact there has been no movement in their negotiations with free-agent first baseman Carlos Delgado for weeks. The Mets opened by offering about $30 million for three years.

The Tigers, Cubs and Orioles also are expressing strong interest in Beltran. The Cubs have suggested they’d have to unload Sammy Sosa before pursuing Beltran, but they’ve been looking into both Beltran and Magglio Ordonez.

Houston, an aggressive pursuer all off-season, no longer is seen as a longshot in the derby for Beltran. A confidant of Roger Clemens said the National League Cy Young Award winner is telling friends he almost certainly will return to pitch if Beltran re-signs, which might explain in part why Astros owner Drayton McLane is chasing Beltran so hard.

Beltran has told people he was treated extremely well by McLane and other Astros people in his half-season there. However, many baseball people say the most important issue for Beltran is to believe a solid nucleus is in place for sustained winning, and it isn’t certain how convincing McLane was at their meeting last week, given the impending free agency of Lance Berkman and advancing ages of Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio and Clemens.

Yankees general manager Brian Cashman publicly has spoken noncommittally about the club’s interest in Beltran, but that is seen as an attempt at coyness.

Although owner George Steinbrenner has been focused on landing Randy Johnson, the Yankees seem unwavering in their interest in Beltran. The Yankees’ Tampa contingent was anxious to replace Williams in center field even last year.