There has been an ongoing dialogue between the Texas Rangers and their future Hall of Fame third baseman, Adrian Beltre.
Beltre, who turned 37 years old on Thursday, a day he ended hitting .214 on the season with no extra-base hits. On the flip side, he made a few highlight-reel, vintage Beltre stops at the hot corner to throw out Angels hitters with ease.
He's a notorious slow starter at the plate, but has shown already this year he's still got it in the field.
But how much longer will he have it?
When we first heard talk of a Beltre extension, the general thought was one more year with possibly a club option tacked on for 2018, but the Beltre camp doesn't see it that way. Word is, agent Scott Boras is seeking a three-year extension in the neighborhood of $60 million for a guy who would be 40 when that deal ran its course and who has one of baseball's top prospects waiting in the wings behind him at third base.
It's a really tough call and a tough decision Jon Daniels will have to make. He's already come out on the record and professed his love for Beltre, saying he wants him to be a Ranger for life. But at what cost?
Beltre for $60 million over the next three years or Joey Gallo for about $1.5 million over that same amount of time? Ouch. It's a gut-wrenching decision to make, but if that's really what it comes down to, it'd be hard to fork over that cash to Beltre, and this is coming from an unabashed Beltre admirer who happens to share initials and a birthday with Mr. Ranger.
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Puts a lump in my throat just thinking of letting him walk, but if the Beltre camp's stance doesn't change before November, that might be what happens.
