Right, if the guy has the skill to play third, he's going to get paid for that skill, and it's a waste of money to play him at first.
This. Beltre has no place on this team with Zimmerman fully entrenched at third base. He's not an option.
Honestly if the O's up Lee's offer to $10 million, let them have him. We would then have some leverage with LaRoche, and he would be forced to accept a deal in the range of $13-$15 million for 2 years, which would be good for us.
If I'm Rizzo, I'm not going higher than $8 mil/season for either player, with a 2-year maximum.