"Not long ago, it was considered a slam-dunk that the Yankees would pick up Nick Swisher's $10.25 million option for 2012, despite another miserable postseason performance.

Now, it's not so clear.

The reason? Carlos Beltran, a free agent after seven up-and-down, and mostly down, seasons with the Mets. Beltran is being shopped hard by his agent, Scott Boras, and his name came up in discussions at the Yankees organizational meeting in Tampa on Wednesday.

"He's on our list,'' said a team official who was present at the meeting. "But we have to make a decision on Swisher first.'' "