Beltre wants team to be buyers
Third baseman knows Rangers must start winning.
The Texas Rangers, future Hall of Famer Adrian Beltre said, do not need to be sellers at the July 31 trade deadline, but in order to convince General Manager Jon Daniels of that, the team needs to start winning more games.
Beltre knows it, and what an extended string of losses could mean as Daniels decides if the Rangers will be sellers over the next 11 days.
“This is a time where a team normally chooses ‘are we going to be a buyer or be a seller,’” Beltre said. “Our team is not helping right now. I would like our team to start winning ballgames so that we can convince everybody, especially our GM, that we are a buyer. I’m a buyer.”
Wednesday’s game didn’t help Beltre’s cause.
Baltimore scored seven times in the seventh inning, turning a two-run game into a rout, and the Rangers’ offense scored one run against a Baltimore Orioles starter for the third straight game in a 10-2 drubbing.
Before Thursday’s game, the Rangers slipped to four games below .500, and though only 31/2 games out of the second wild-card entry into the postseason, the Rangers are hardly trending the right way.
The offense posted a .179 average in its first five games of the second half, the worst in the majors by six points. The rotation posted four straight quality starts before Tyson Ross allowed nine runs (eight earned) Tuesday in 3⅓ innings.
Martin Perez allowed five runs (four earned) in six-plus innings Wednesday.
Beltre collected career hit No. 2,983, the 602nd double of his career, but placed himself among those who are struggling at the plate. Mike Napoli, who entered batting .357 since the All-Star break, was the only regular hitting better than .250.
But Beltre still believes the club has time to come together and make the postseason.
“We’re still contenders. There’s no doubt,” he said. “We haven’t played the way we’ve been wanting to play, and we’re still right there. We’re still looking at the division even though it’s a little farther away than we want it to be.
“It doesn’t matter how we get in the playoffs. If we get there, that’s good enough. We believe we have the team to do it, but we’ve got to find a way to be more consistent winning ballgames — scoring more runs, being more consistent defensively and pitching better. We all have to do everything together to find a way to get to our goals.”
Napoli is on the same page as his teammate Beltre. If the Rangers were to fall behind any further in the wild-card hunt, Daniels could attempt to trade any of the six players who will be free agents after the season.
Napoli is in that group that also includes catcher Jonathan Lucroy, center fielder Carlos Gomez and righthanders Yu Darvish, Andrew Cashner and Ross.
DeShields biding his time on the bench: Facing a left-handed pitcher is the only way Delino DeShields, as a right-handed hitter, can get into the lineup, with the lefty-hitting Drew Robinson gobbling up at-bats against right-handed pitchers that could have been going to DeShields.
So, he’s been trying to not collect any rust waiting for a left-hander while also still believing that he is an everyday big-league outfielder.
“Obviously I want to play every day,” DeShields said. “I feel when I’ve played I have produced. I still take the mindset that I am playing every day and prepare that way. Get my work in and get extra work in the outfield, stay on top of my game and try to be as ready as I can be when my time comes.”
DeShields has a higher batting average against righties this season (.288 to .273) in twice as many at-bats, but his on-base percentage against lefties is significantly higher (.368 to .326).