Various outlets are saying that Adrian Beltre has signed a six-year $100 million contract from the Texas Rangers. I The Red Sox signed Beltre to a one-year deal last off-season. He had a really nice year with the Red Sox batting .321with 102 RBI and 28 dingers. The Sox passed up on Beltre this offseason, opting to shift Kevin Youklis to third base and acquire Adrian Gonzalez from the San Diego Padres.
In swoops the Texas Rangers... but why?
Beltre makes the situation in Texas pretty interesting. The Rangers will hand the third base reigns over to Beltre, taking them out of the hands of Michael Young. Young has agreed to play DH, but does he deserve to be delegated to DH duty?
My question to the Rangers is what is wrong with Michael Young? He is still a good fielder. He made the same amount of errors as Beltre (19). He also hit .284 with 21 home runs and 91 RBI. Not that far off what Beltre did for the Sox last season. So the two are pretty comparable in my book.Another interesting factoid is the simple fact that Beltre has seems to be unable to produce outside of contract years. Beltre went (im going to use my favorite word) bezerker for the Los Angeles Dodgers in is final year in LA hitting an obscene 48 home runs and a ridiculous 121 RBI in the pitcher friendly Dodger stadium.
He signed a monster deal with the Seattle Mariners that offseason. For the M's his power numbers... average (103 in 5 seasons). His average numbers were just that, average (.266 in 5 years). He was labeled as a bust by many.
He was signed by Boston in the next offseason, and had probably his second best season in the majors. One we all enjoyed watching.
Texas is investing a lot of money in a guy who has not proved he can hit outside a contract year. There are many variables that will make this deal interesting. Were his numbers inflated by playing in the friendly confines of Fenway? Will Michael Young be content being a DH all season and beyond?
Only time will tell how this deal will work out for the club in Arlington.
At very least the Rangers should know they will be getting a productive hitter in the 2016 season when his contract is ready to end.
Dan I see where your coming from but the only thing I don't understand is why the Rangers would offer Beltre such a long contract for so much money at a time where he would be winding down his career. He isn't getting any younger and would be approaching 37 at the end of this contract. I also don't see moving Young as a downside. Yes he has been soild at third but he is going to be a crucial player if one of the infielders go down. Reports are saying that young told reporters that he would move in the roster to accomodate Beltre's signing. But, Young is going to be used as a super-utility player since he has seen playing time at second and third in his career, so I think the overflow of infield talent for the Rangers is going to help them. Whether or not Young deserves to be moved is another question but I think Young is willing to move in order to bring home a championship if his move is going to put them in the better position to do so.
ReplyDeleteJustin G-