After a brilliant career that spanned parts of 21 seasons, Adrian Beltre announced today that he is retiring from baseball. Via a Rangers press release, Beltre has issued the following statement:
After careful consideration and many sleepless nights, I have made the decision to retire from what I’ve been doing my whole life, which is playing baseball, the game I love.
I have thought about it a lot and although I appreciate all the opportunities and everything that baseball has given me, it’s time to call it a career. I have enjoyed the privilege of playing professional baseball since I was 15 years old. I have been blessed to have played 21 seasons at the highest level in Major League Baseball.
I want to thank God, my amazing wife Sandra for your unwavering and unconditional love, support and understanding throughout my entire baseball career, my three awesome children, Cassie, A.J and Camila for being the best baseball kids, my parents, and my entire family for all your love and support.
I also want to thank my agents, Scott Boras, Mike Fiore and the entire Boras Corp. for always believing in my talent. A huge THANK YOU goes to the numerous teammates, managers, coaches, and staff members from the Los Angeles Dodgers, Seattle Mariners, Boston Red Sox and especially the Texas Rangers. These past eight seasons playing in a Rangers’ uniform have been the best of my career and were made possible thanks to Rangers’ owners Ray Davis, Bob Simpson, and Neil Leibman, General Manager Jon Daniels, Nolan Ryan, and the late Don Welke.
I also owe a huge part of my success in Texas to the amazing Rangers’ fans. You guys are the best!
I also have to acknowledge and thank Tommy Lasorda for believing in this young kid from the Dominican Republic when others thought I was too young to be called up to the Big Leagues.
To all my fans in the Dominican Republic, the United States and Latin America, my sincerest THANK YOU for your continuous support throughout my career. While I will forever cherish the memories from my time playing the greatest game on earth, I am excited to become a fulltime husband and father, and I am ready to take on the next chapter of my life.
It’s been one hell of a ride!
Muchas gracias,
Adrian Beltre
The march to Cooperstown now begins in earnest for Beltre, one of the greatest third basemen to ever play the game. Signed by the Dodgers out of Santo Domingo in 1994, Beltre debuted in the Majors as a 19-year-old just four years later and never looked back. While his first season didn’t yield quality results, Beltre improved greatly in his age-20 campaign and cemented himself as a star in the years to follow. Beltre ultimately accrued more than 20 years of Major League service time, spending at least five years with each of the Dodgers, Mariners and Rangers (in addition to one year with the Red Sox in 2010).
Already a highly regarded player in the first half of his career, Beltre is the rare player who actually improved with his age. While most players begin to fade in their early to mid-30s, Beltre seemingly won a staredown with Father Time. Incredibly, he’d never made an All-Star team prior to his 31st birthday, but he was named to four Midsummer Classic rosters over the final nine seasons of his career. After hitting a combined .270/.325/.453 with superlative defense from 1998-2009, Beltre exploded to hit .307/.358/.514 from 2010-18. Along that remarkable 21-year journey, his glovework scarcely deteriorated, making him one of the best all-around players in the game for the better part of two decades.
Beltre will retire as a career .286/.339/.480 hitter, with 477 home runs, 636 doubles, 38 triples and 121 stolen bases on his resume. He totaled 3166 hits as a Major Leaguer, scored 1524 runs and knocked in another 1707 runs. In addition to his four All-Star nods — which, in retrospect, was far too few — Beltre won four Silver Sluggers, five Gold Gloves and a pair of Platinum Gloves. Even that considerable amount of hardware feels light — particularly on the Gold Glove front, as Beltre is the runaway all-time leader in Defensive Runs Saved at any position since the stat was introduced in 2003. No one is even close to Beltre’s towering mark of 222, with Andrelton Simmons’ 184 DRS currently sitting in a distant second place.
Beltre earned $219MM in one of the greatest careers we baseball fans will ever have the privilege to witness. Fangraphs tallies his career at 84 wins above replacement, while Baseball-Reference pegs him at a whopping 95.7 WAR. As surefire a Hall of Famer as one can find, Beltre will take his place among the game’s elite in five years once he’s eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot.
Hats off to a great career! Beltre always did it the right way! Sucks to see him go, but now is probably the right time. Happy Retirement AB
Yeah I agree, a HoF candidate 3b for sure! It’s kind of sad though because he’s like the last remaining player in the MLB who debuted in the 90’s. We will never forget you Beltre, you’re one of the best!
Totally agree. Does anyone remember how badly he left the Dodgers? Great career and from what I read, he became an even better leader and person.
Bartolo Colon
One of the greatest players ive ever watched. One of the funnest and funniest players in my opinion. I cant tell you how many times Ive watched compilations of his antics just to catch a laugh. HoF candidate . No doubt about it.
Waiting for somebody to actually call him the greatest 3B of all time.
probably his generation yeah but all time not sure u can say that.
How much of it came from PED’s?
Slevin: How much of it came from PED’s?”
Ahem. PROOF?
Hit 23 homers in ’03, hit 48 homers in ’04, and hit 19 homers in ’05…granted he moved to Seattle in ’05 but that’s a little suspicious to me…I mean 2004 in the same division as Bonds. Bonds only hit 45 homers that year but his OPS was the highest
How much of you becoming a hater came from genetics? Asking for a friend?
Life lesson: don’t waste your time trying to ask random people on random message boards questions, tell your dumb friend.
you’re welcome
None. There’s never been serious rumors, and of course, he’s never failed any testing.
Who would take like lessons from someone named juicemane?
You’re stupid
Boy, I hope not. To me he’s just been a person who kept himself in top condition. An iron rock as I remember his year in Boston. When he went for the ball, others got out of his way.
How much of your comments come from inebriation?
Unless a player hits exactly 23.6 HRs every year and hits within .010 of his career BA and .040 of his career OPS annually, people like selvin and juiceman will bring up PEDs.
There was little or no testing during his free agent years (when he happened to put up his best numbers).. He went to Seattle for several years, where he was probably a .265 hitter.
MLB basically encouraged and covered up PED use for a couple decades.
Roger Maris, 1960: 39 HR
Roger Maris, 1961 : 61 HR
Roger Maris, 1962: 33 HR
Was he taking PEDs too? Baseball history is full of examples like this.
Amphetamines, but it was legal to use as it was not tested for. Kind of like any other PED. I do agree with you Koonce baseball if full of statistical anomalies like this.
Bonds hit “only” 45 homers that year because nobody threw him strikes. 617 PA vs. 373 AB. He had almost twice as many walks as hits!
He’s easily top 5
Jaffe’s JAWS rankings have him fourth at third base. He trails Schmidt, Matthews and Boggs. Schmidt is of course the best ever there. I would put Beltre in a cluster with Matthews, Boggs, and Brett.
Wow. A discussion Brett v. Beltre. Beltre clearly on D but Brett just as big a difference on O. Brett was underappreciated as a hitter if that’s possible.
Just saw Beltre’s stats. Brett was an amazing hitter but Beltre was too!
So mr JAWS never heard of craig nettles or brooks robinson?
How about Pie Traynor?
Yes he has. Is that a rhetorical question? The JAWS system looks at everyone in MLB history.
I know where this would go if it continued, so I’ll just skip ahead and say: Can we, as commenters, get to the point where we do a modicum of analysis before throwing out the first thought that enters our brains? “Oh this in-depth system thinks Player A was great? What about Player B?!?!?!” If you care enough to post that comment, you should care enough to look into the JAWS system (easily available online) and understand why it ranks Beltre ahead of Nettles and Robinson. Anything else is just making useless noise, or worse, asking other people to do work for you.
Nettles No. 12 on JAWS. Brooks No. 8. Guess you’ve never heard of Jay Jaffe or Baseball Reference?
He said Pie Traynor. The man had less than 40 career WAR.
Pie Traynor was my favorite player to watch on tv as a kid
Nettles was a terrific and underrated player, mostly because of bad batting averages, and Robinson was a great player too, but neither is near Beltre; Beltre’s consistency and overall output is just staggering considering his position. And Pie Traynor shouldn’t even be in the discussion. He was great for his era, I guess, but that was basically a different game.
Not only is the JAWS system easy to find, with all its components explained, on B-R but Jaffe also wrote a book called The Hall of Fame Handbook last year that goes way into depth about this stuff. Bill James wrote a book in the 90s called The Politics of Glory which should be required reading for anyone interested in Hall of Fame arguments/discussions. It is an unbelievably entertaining and incredibly informative look at the history of the Hall, its members and the various arguments. And don’t worry; it’s not a lot of math or formulas or stuff that scares people away…it’s mostly conversational and talks about baseball’s history in a thorough, informative and often humorous way.
Lol, if he played his entire career in Boston or New York you’d have every talking head on tv and writer saying he was.
Exactly. He was remarkably consistent and an amazing defender. He’s easily one of the best of all time.
If he was in Boston or New York, we would have all been forced to watch everyone pat him on the back during a “retirement tour” instead of him retiring with class during the offseason.
so true
So true NOT. He wouldn’t have allowed a retirement tour. Not the only one though. The first one I recall was Yaz. While they stopped the game on his 3000 hit 400 HR milestones, he was class. His spontaneous circling of Fenway was special. No one though went out like Ted Williams, hitting a bomb in his final AB.
This.
‘Cmon… Everyone knows that’s Dennis Menke…
Thank you, Adrian.
Baseball has lost one of the greatest personalities and a phenomenal player.
Very disappointing to hear! He was one of my favorite players and just like David Ortiz I wish these veterans would keep playing until they were no longer productive to pad those stats.
Thank you Adrian! Happy retirement future hall of famer
a remarkable career for as classy a man as you can have. As a Rangers fan its been an honor to watch him play. The relationship between him and his teammates was a great one. You can’t teach what he does. Sorry to see this man retire. Long life and great years for you Mr. Beltre.
so long, fella! A true character and a hell of a player.
this site is crazy. how can you downvote an honest comment
It’s probably because you didn’t capitalize or use proper punctuation, so people think it’s a sloppy, disrespectful comment toward one of the greatest third baseman of all time.
It’s the internet equivalent of looking like Joe Dirt at a formal event.
Classy all the way to the H.O.F.
GREAT career, going to miss watching him pick it at the hot corner, his love for the game and his back and forth with king Felix.
You knew it was probably coming- but WoW!
Won’t be the same around here.
Good luck to AB
Next stop Hall of Fame! Amazing career and a amazing personality! First ballot Hall of Famer!
What an amazing career! Thank you for entertaining countless fans, Mr. Beltre. Best of luck in your future endeavors and I’m sure we’ll see you soon in Cooperstown.
One of my favourite players.
Congrats on a great career, Adrian! I imagine you’ll be in Cooperstown in about 5 years
Would love for him to stay in shape and catch on with a contender next year and get a ring but that’ll never happen. No more entertaining player to watch in my opinion. Hope he takes some time and gets into coaching someday.
I remember when ppl used to rake him and call him moody, underachiever, lazy etc. He was a kid when he came up with the Dodgers. I’m glad he proved them all wrong because he earned a rep as a hard working guy. I wish upon a star that he might become a mentor to Andujar. They are so similar with the bat. Word is, Andujar works diligently to improve. Maybe Beltre could give him some pointers.
Either way, top 5 3B of all-time. You can @ me because it’s the truth.
Love the guy. Heck of a player, class act off the field. Wish you all the best, AB
Signing Beltre after one hot season in Boston was probably the second best move JD has done after the Hamilton trade
there goes the last chance of this era 4 decade player.
It’s Big Sexy’s time to shine now!
he gets in but on 1st time on ballot? nope. hell probably have to wait like biggio. voters have to look at all the dart board stats now… what was his acdc×r2d2(c3p0)< rundmc÷ xbox% – xfwap × OPPYYKM?
Difference in Beltre and Biggio is almost 200 more homeruns, almost 600 more RBI’s along with the 3,000 hits. Not to mention The defense at 3rd base. I was a fan of Biggio and hated that he did not get in first time, but Beltre’s numbers will get him in. Biggio is the only member of the 3,000 hit club to not get in the first time, with the exception of Palmeiro and Rose.
Who is this Rose guy you speak of…said the Reds fan…
Biggio was a victim of a really crowded ballot, mostly because of the PED guys. Beltre, in six years, won’t have to worry about that.
He absolutely gets in 1st ballot. He passes the old school criteria. Over 3,000 hits. Near 500 homers. 1,700 rbi.
Among 3B-Top 5 in homers (5th), RBI (2nd), hits (2nd), doubles (2nd) and 5 gold gloves. I’m shocked he only made 4 all-star appearances. I guess Arod and Chipper beat him out a few times.
From an analytics standpoint he’s in the top 5 in just about every measure.. Biggio was a great player. One I respected. However, he’s not in the top 5 at his position. In fact he’s about 30 WAR short of the #4 leader in WAR at that position (Joe Morgan). Shoot ….Whitaker has more overall WAR than Biggio and he almost never gets any HOF love. Even Willie Randolph is only 3 WAR short of Biggio. But Biggio belongs. Old school voters make certain guys wait to show respect to the upper echelon guys who went in 1st ballot. I think Beltre deserves the distinction of being a 1st ballot guy.
Don’t forget the all important xwank stat. A-Rod led it 10 years running, he xwanked himself so much.
I know I wasn’t the only one hoping to see him get to 500 homers/3K hits. I will miss watching him play! Good luck in your retirement Adrian!
Man I looked at my phone saw this and now I’m bummed. He was a great player! Hope he has a great retirement
Outstanding career, Beltre! Good luck in retirement.
23 more dingers to 500 club
I am always happy when I see a player retire between seasons as I conclude it was done on his terms and his timetable. Not as a result of being DFA a few months into a season.
He just ruined Elvis Andrus entire week………
Wow tough blow. I think any time someone retires we always need to reflect, was he the greatest 3rd baseman of all time?
I’ll still to with Mike Schmidt.
One of the greatest to ever wear a Rangers uniform. I have loved his time with Texas and I will miss seeing him in every game from here on. I wish him a happy retirement, but hope the Rangers find a way to lure him back as a coach.
Great career and even Greater person. He is a Hall of Famer!
Great professional, great player, great career…
I loved watching him play 3B defense in Los Angeles. The 2004 MVP was stolen from him.
He was one of my favorite players because he was so good for so long but never took things that serious and really loved to have fun.
Also I just want to say, Simmons may be a distant second but that’s impressive considering he’s only 28-29 years old…
With the stat starting in 2003 a lot of Beltre was left out.
Great guy, bit underappreciated I think. Loved his ‘rivalry’ with Felix.
glad he decided to retire before ignorant fans have a chance to start saying he’s trash
A player who came up in the late 90s only got better as he aged. Hm, how about that.
Are you trying to imply something?
Yes, how about the fact that all MLB players are tested for a wide variety of PEDs three times per year and he never failed a test. I’m so tired of this stupid narrative.
While he was playing, for most of his career,
I never thought of him as a HoFer but looking back now and at his stats, I think he’ll get in. Mussina of 3B: consistently very good.
He loved the game, and it made me love the way he played it… Kudos to you Adrian, Ranger fans can’t thank you enough. First ballot in my book.
What a great player to watch and it has been a privilege to be able to witness him on my favorite team the Rangers. I truly hope he remains with the organization in some way, he is a top notch clubhouse leader and would be a huge mentor asset to the young guys.
All the best wishes for whatever Beltre decides to do after baseball.
One of the greatest players. Definitely a hall of fame player. Congratulations on a great successful career, Adrian
The hat tip to Tommy Lasorda was a nice touch from a great and classy ballplayer. For Dodger fans, Beltre will always be the man who got away.
Yes, he will along with Mike Piazza, Paul Konerko, and Pedro. The 90’s-2000 Dodger regime with Fox and McCourt ownerships really damaged a lot of legacy players for the team. All 4 of these players should be wearing Dodger hats in the hall but they won’t. Im glad at least Guggenheim isn’t going to screw up with Kershaw. He’s going in with a Dodger hat and there is no argument there.
Not sure a great HoF case can be made for Konerko, but for sure all of them were casualties of cheapskate owners. Beltre stings the most for me personally not only because he was such a talent from the start but after he left the Dodgers struggled for years to find anyone to play 3B who was half as good. Not until Turner have they come even close.
A fitting tribute to one of the greatest players of all time. For Beltre doubters the fact is he played way better in the post-PED era than during. He’s as sure a first ballot Hall of Famer as there ever was. Nice tribute Steve!
As an Angels fan we had to face him all to often playing for Seattle and Texas, his fielding was impressive. Yes I too believe him to be first ballot, but also think he had one more good year left in him. Always the gentleman and infield leader. Enjoy your future, glad you do not play in the AL Western Division any longer, lol.
How the hell did he not get an All-Star nod in 2004?!? Smh
Rolen had a better first half so he was voted in by fans and NL manager, also Marlins manager, Jack Mckeon selected his own guy Lowell for 3B backup duties.
Adrian was one of the best players to ever do it, and I was fortunate to watch him play third base for my favorite team for eight years. Surely a first Ballot Hall of Famer. I hate so much he didn’t get a ring in 2011, but sometimes life doesn’t go the way we want it to. Thank you for everything Adrian!
I miss him already
great career indeed.
I recall his last year in Seattle , people calling him a bust after his 1 big season there. He stayed consistent though and now today we talking future HOF.
This is why people need to stop acting like they know better than the guys actually in the sport.
Definite HOF player
I picked Moose to TEX.
The long list of comments pretty much says it all, a class act on and off the field.
Thanks for the highlights, the class, the schooling, the acknowledgements, and most of all; sharing your Hall of Fame career with every fan of our beloved game. I never wanted to face you. Godspeed, baseball brother. Many blessings in your life after baseball. .
Hats off for a fantastic and highly underrated career.
His offensive improvement in his 30s was due almost entirely to the complete reversal in home ballparks: Dodger Stadium and Safeco Field for a decade vs one year in Fenway and the balance in Arlington.
No one will ever know except AB himself but the anecdotal evidence is highly present that he used PEDs for one and only one year, 2004 as he approached free agency for the first time.
Again with no proof, it’s probably as good an indication as any we’ve seen of exactly what PEDs (that was the era of the Cream and the Clear) could do for an already very good hitter.
Even though Beltre always played for teams, I almost never cheered for. I always was a fan of his. Class act all the way. Enjoy retirement.
The more I look at his numbers, the more I wonder how sure fire of a HOF’er he is. Four time All-Star over his career, only twice in the top 5 for MVP (never won), sub .300 career BA, and under 500 HR’s for his career. Great player, great career, but I think he needs some help to be in HOF.
Beltre will be voted in on the first ballot on the basis of over 20 years of excellence working both ends of the baseball. I’d bet my mother-in-law on it, if I had one.
He wasn’t excellent all 20 of those years. I wouldn’t even go as far as saying he wasn’t even the most dominate player during the majority of his playing seasons. He put up great numbers overall, but he had some seasons that weren’t noteworthy.
If you play for 21 years not every one of them is going to be sold gold. Fortunately that doesn’t really matter. The Hall is about a body of work, which in Beltre’s case also includes his sterling defense.
HOF does include compilers (not saying Beltre is one) by bringing in Sutton and Biggio. As far as he defense, being a great defender at third is a huge plus, but that’s been an offensive first position in the era Beltre played in. I think he’ll get in, but first ballot or “no doubter” is a stretch when you look at his entire body of work. Great career, but he’s no legend.
The HoF has no criteria for election beyond the basic qualifications to be on the ballot, so it isn’t necessary for a player to be a “legend” in anyone’s estimation. Either way we won’t know who’s right on the first ballot prediction for five years at least. Whether he makes it on the first ballot will partly depend on who else is on it that year.
No 3000-hit player has ever been left out of the Hall, besides the steorid guys and Rose, who’s ineligible. Citing nonsense like a batting average under .300 or “under 500 HRs” is pretty bad analysis. The Hall of Fame intentionally has no “benchmarks” for certain stats, and even if they did, HRS and BA would be a pretty lousy way to evaluate players. Beltre is a first-ballot HoF player.
Hats off and congratulations on an amazing career Mr. Beltre. Baseball fans everywhere will be waiting to see you in Cooperstown the first summer you’re eligible.
a staredown with father time..
love it
“Overrated compiler. 0.00 Earned Rings Average. Anyone who votes for him for the Hall Of Fame should be ashamed of themselves. HowboutTHAT?”
-Stugotz
RIP Adrian Beltre. One of a kind now at rest. No one can tease him and touch his head anymore.
Jeebus christmas man, he’s retiring, not passing on!
Great hitter, great defender, great teammate. Ticks the boxes for a great career.
BR and GN were better fields: A+ to A.
AB was a better hitter than them.
Schmidt, Beltre, Matthews (though Matthews had better power).
Beltre was a moody and sulky young man who took years to grow up, beginning in Seattle then never looked back.
I am blessed to watch his progression as a person as well as a ball player.
hey steve,
thanks for ‘one of the greatest careers we as baseball fans will have the priviledge to witness’. what a blessing. i will miss that 40 year old dude acting like a 12 year old kid, playing a 20 year old’s game and embarrassing 20 year old’s at it while smiling and patting them on the back. if young kids aren’t being told ‘try to be adrian beltre’ someone’s failing them. guilty, biased rangers fan, would love to have hundreds of this guy around the game