The Rangers are "backing off for now" on any pursuit of Adrian Beltre, tweets Ken Rosenthal of FOXSports.com. Texas is "not at all optimistic" about its chances of signing the free agent third baseman, and without a chance of getting Beltre, the Rangers have similarly halted the Michael Young trade market. This market may not have been all that sturdy, as Rosenthal notes that a Young trade was a "longshot from [the] start."
If Texas is out of the picture, that eliminates one more big-market player from the Beltre sweepstakes. It may be down to just the Angels as the only serious bidders for Beltre's services, unless the Athletics get back in the hunt. The pressure seemed to be on Los Angeles to get a deal done with Beltre once the club's top free agent target (Carl Crawford) signed with Boston, but the Halos may be able to sign Beltre at a relative bargain price if they're the only team in the race. Scott Boras may have to look hard for another mystery team to join the fray unless Beltre is willing to sign with a non-contender with money to spend, like Baltimore.
