Deadline dilemma: Deal Beltre or keep him to help rebuild
The 20th anniversary of Adrian Beltre’s MLB debut arrived Sunday with him right where he’s been for most of his playing days since 2011, at third base and batting fourth for the Texas Rangers.
Note that it was just the Rangers, not the playoff-contending Rangers. Despite public outcry, that’s where the Rangers have been the majority of Beltre’s eight seasons with them.
But they aren’t this season and won’t be, and that has Beltre somewhere he has rarely been — on the trading block.
The Rangers aren’t calling teams ahead of the July 31 nonwaiver trade deadline to tell them of the future Hall of Famer’s availability. They don’t need to. Contending teams know the landscape.
And here’s what the Rangers are saying: They are willing to work with contenders on a number of scenarios involving a number of players. That includes Beltre, left-hander Cole Hamels, outfielder/DH Shin-Soo Choo, lefty reliever Jake Diekman and closer Keone Kela.
What they might not be telling teams is they have interest in keeping Beltre this season and beyond.
A source said that to trade Beltre will require a package that would outweigh the benefits the Rangers see in keeping him the rest of 2018 and trying to convince the impending free agent to re-sign for at least 2019.
While they are in a developmental phase, the Rangers believe Beltre can be an integral part of as a veteran leader who can pass along his 21 seasons of experience to younger players.
Rangers general manager Jon Daniels has told Beltre he will be kept abreast of any deals that might come along, a source said. The expectation is a contender will give Daniels something to take to Beltre.
The question becomes if Beltre