The Texas Rangers and Adrian Beltre have reached an agreement that adds $36 million and two years for the All-Star third baseman through the 2018 season, according to a person familiar with the deal.
Beltre has already taken a physical, and the person spoke to The Associated Press on Friday night on condition of anonymity because the results of the exam were not yet completed. The Dallas Morning News first reported the deal.
Beltre is in the final season of the $96 million, six-year deal he signed with the Rangers as a free agent before the 2011 season. He is making $16 million this year.
Beltre and the Rangers had talked since the end of last season about wanting to get a new contract completed. Beltre, who turned 37 last week, had said he didn't want to negotiate after the season started.
Before the 2015 season, the Rangers reworked the final two seasons of the original deal to elimination the condition that gave the team a conditional right to void the final season -- which was 2016.
Beltre played his 2,495th game at third base Friday night against Baltimore, second in MLB history behind Brooks Robinson's 2,870 games at third.
A four-time Gold Glove winner, Beltre is still a standout defender. He started a pair of double plays against the Orioles, including one when he fielded a short-hopper coming in and then threw against this body to second base to start the play.
Sports Connection
Connecting you to your favorite North Texas sports teams as well as sports news around the globe.
He went into Friday night's game hitting .310 with two homers and nine RBIs.
Beltre is in his 19th major league season. He made his MLB debut at age 19 with the Los Angeles Dodgers in 1998, having signed with that organization three years earlier out of the Dominican Republic.
After playing with the Dodgers through 2004, Beltre signed a free-agent deal with Seattle and played five seasons with the Mariners before going to Boston in 2010 and then to the Rangers.
AP Baseball Writer Ronald Blum contributed to this report.
