One of the best third basemen in the game's history admits he doesn't get to watch Rangers third baseman Adrian Beltre on a regular basis.
But at the same time, Michael Jack Schmidt knows numbers when he sees numbers, and he also knows something about being a Hall of Fame third baseman.
So despite a lot of folks' reluctance to call Beltre a future Hall of Famer, for whatever reason, Schmidt said he sees Cooperstown in his future.
Schmidt joined the folks over at 105.3 The Fan this week and talked about Beltre's chances as a 37-year-old, seemingly ageless stalwart at the hot corner.
I have not seen that much of Adrian Beltre. I do mention him all the time when we talk about today's third basemen. He's probably a little unheralded, he's not the guy that is right on the tip of everyone's tongue right now. Maybe he is for sure down there in Texas, but man when you look at Adrian Beltre's numbers it is quite impressive. It definitely opens your eyes and when you do get to see him on a national game of the week or postseason play. He has tremendous hands defensively, he's a great hitter, he's been on some great teams, definitely a winning player. Hall of Fame? I don't have his career numbers in front of me right now but I would sure think he'd be someone that gets some consideration and again a lot of times that Hall of Fame thing is really based upon the last three or four years of your career. It's a longevity thing and a consistency thing and so far he's on his way to that, there's no doubt.
Beltre has 423 career home runs with a .285 career batting average and just passed the 1,500 career RBI mark, putting him in highly select company among all-time third basemen. Not to mention the fact he's a generational defensive player at that position.
There should be no doubt, whatsoever, about Beltre's Hall future.
