Texas Rangers: Appreciate Adrian Beltre, and keep him around
The Rangers have won the AL West the past two year and are pretty well set for a three-peat in 2017, thanks to an offense that led the AL in runs and a pitching staff headed by stars Yu Darvish and Cole Hamels. Texas, then, should look to the future and give us something we all want: more Adrian Beltre. The 37-year-old defensive wizard is already signed through 2018 thanks to a two-year extension he inked last year, but given what a joy he is to watch play—from his odd couple partnership with shortstop Elvis Andrus to his dazzling glove work at third base to his head-touching quirks and check swing appeals—it’s clear that ’18 shouldn’t be the final year of Beltre.
He'll probably keep producing too. In 2016 Beltre hit .300 with 32 homers and 104 RBIs and won another Gold Glove while finishing seventh in the AL MVP race. He enters 2017 just 58 hits away from 3,000 which will make him a lock for election to the Hall of Fame—if he ever retires. So let’s hope Texas gives him a 10-year contract, then watch him bring happiness into the baseball world through his 40s. Who’d be against that?
