Adrián Beltré on trade rumors, his love for the Rangers, and why he won't ever manage.

HOUSTON, Texas — Adrián Beltré is sitting in front of his locker with his earbuds in. Usually, that’s a sign that a player doesn’t feel like talking on a particular day, but in this case, there are extenuating circumstances. The trade deadline is in just under 72 hours, and Beltré’s name has come up. As a veteran with 10-and-5 rights, the team cannot trade Beltré without his consent. So it’s a little different situation than a player who can simply answer “I don’t have any control over what happens.” and leave it at that. There’s good reason to talk to Beltré, even if his earbuds are in and he’d rather not.

In situations where some added grace is needed, Emily Jones, the Rangers sideline reporter on Fox Sports Southwest broadcasts, is the one who takes the lead. No one tells Emily to get lost.

She calls his name once, to no avail. She moves a little closer and asks a little louder, using his first and last name to add levity to the situation. “Adrián Beltré!”

The Adrián Beltré that you see on the field is really no different from the Beltré who deals with the media. He does not placate, nor does he make small talk. Instead, he engages as only he can: with a constant stream of good-natured gestures, scowls, and half-serious indignation. “What?!” he says, turning around and feigning surprise at the presence of the assembled media. “What’s happening?”

You tell us, one reporter jokes. We don’t know anything.

“Me neither,” Beltré respondes. “I’m playing today. That’s all I know.”

Of course, what we want to ask requires some grace. So Jones asks if Beltré’s feelings have “evolved” in the last few weeks since he said that he might want to just stay in Texas rather than accept a trade elsewhere.

“I have no feelings,” the future Hall-of-Famer deadpans. 

Would he be at peace with staying in Texas if no trade materializes? “I’ve always been at peace with being here … If it makes sense for both parties, I would consider it, but up until now, there’s nothing concrete that we can sit and talk about.”

Has Jon Daniels brought you anything to consider? “We have talked.” About anything specific? “That’s just too much information,” he stonewalls with an impish grin. 

Finally, both sides grow bored with the small talk, and the more pointed questions begin. There have been rumors of Atlanta’s interest in adding Beltré. Would he be open to reuniting with former manager Ron Washington, currently the Braves’ third base coach?

“Ahhhhh,” Beltré smiles. “I mean, it’s always nice to see him. I love Ron. But I can’t comment on that, I don’t know. I don’t think anything, to my knowledge, is heading that way. But I don’t know. I don’t know. I just work here.”

The conversation turns to 2019. “Well, the question is whether I’m going to play or not, that’s the only question,” he shrugs. He is 39 years old and his hamstrings have been in open revolt for nearly a decade. His body has endured the abuse of nearly 21 seasons of big-league baseball. His strikeouts are up. His power is down. Early in the year, his throws to first base began to sail wide (though that has since been corrected). And yet, here he is, batting .294, playing above-average defense, and worth 1.3 WAR despite having only played 72 of the Rangers’ 105 games. 

“There’s definitely, even if I’m still here, or if I go somewhere else…” he pauses to consider his words. “If I decide to play again, I think in my heart, the first choice would be coming back here.” But as to whether the Rangers’ front office would be open to that, he knows what he can and can’t assume. “You’d have to ask that question to somebody else, because I can’t answer for them.”

At the end of 2017 and during spring training of this season, Beltré made it abundantly clear that he wanted to compete for a ring. He and the Rangers have this in common: the closest they got to winning a World Series was one strike away. They experienced that together in 2011 (Only Elvis Andrus and Beltré remain from that squad). Does Beltré still feel that way? Is the desperation for a World Series victory still the first and foremost factor in his decision making?

For once, the steadfast captain with “no feelings” allows a crack in the façade.

“I mean, it’s a question that is not fair for me to answer,” he waffles. “Because I don’t know where my head is going to be next week. I don’t know where my head is going to be tomorrow. So if you ask that question, it’s unfair for me, because I’m not going to be completely honest with you … It’s a different situation, because I’m comfortable here, I love it here. The fans have been great, the organization has given me the chance to win for many years. Yes, we ended up coming up short in 2011, but ultimately for me, it’s—” He stops and re-starts. “I want to win. And I’m caught up in between the organization that gave me the chance to win for many years, the organization that trusted me enough to sign me to multi-year contracts multiple times. The fans — I could ask nothing better than the way the Texas fans have received me in this state. But ultimately, I do want to win, it’s just like… it’s a difficult situation for me. And obviously, (even) if I get traded to a team that ‘has a chance to win’, we might not end up getting there. It’s going to come along if the right situation works for both parties.”

And of course, Beltré isn’t interesting in hitchhiking on the back bumper of someone else’s World Series work. He says that for him to accept a trade, he would need to know that he was going to have a chance to actually contribute, not just be a pinch-hitter and Team Dad: “A chance for me to actually be part of that team, not just sitting on the bench. A chance for me to play. I’m not going to specifically say ‘I need to play every day’, but contribute to that team to win the World Series, if that’s going to happen … I don’t have to be a third baseman. I don’t have to play every day I don’t think— I don’t think that I’m there (ready to be a bench player) yet. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

The ball will likely soon be in Beltré’s court, if it is not already: his answer as to whether he had rejected a trade yet was not without room for interpretation. As the conversation began to wind down, someone used the ball-in-court analogy to summarize: “You haven’t rejected the ball yet.” 

“Yeah,” Beltre nodded in agreement. 

“You haven’t turned down anything.”

“Nnn…” he shook his head. “Not really,” he answered, more softly. 

And just like that, El Capitán was back, gesturing at us and taking control of the conversation.

“How many questions are we asking today?! There’s no guarantees in life, in general! I might die tomorrow!”

C’mon, you’ve enjoyed this, one reporter jokes.

Beltré turns back to his locker with a dismissive wave and raised eyebrows, half-smile / smirk firmly in place. “That’s one thing that I’m not gonna- once I leave baseball, I gonna be happy that I don’t have to talk to you guys.” 

He stops and realizes what he just said, softening it a bit. “Not because of you, but–” 

C’mon, you’re going to have to put up with this every day with you become a manager, comes the reply, also only half-in-jest. Beltré’s voice goes up a full octave as he responds with feigned shock. “Mana-who?!? No thanks. I think that’s the reason I don’t think I could ever manage. I don’t think I have the knowledge, but second of all, I don’t know how Banister talks to you guys every freakin minute. That’s- I would kill myself. Once a month, every 4-6 weeks would be fine.”

The conversation is over. We’ll talk to you tomorrow, Adrián.

“Until to-what? No thank you. I’ll talk to you guys next year.” 

Photo: Raj Mehta-USA TODAY Sports