Adrian Beltre wants to finish his career with the Rangers

A 17-year veteran is afforded the opportunity to arrive to spring training on report date, but Adrian Beltre beat the deadline for Texas Rangers position players by three days.

Baseball’s best third baseman made his Surprise Recreation Campus debut Sunday morning, and immediately took care of one of his most mundane tasks of camp by speaking to the media.

The 10-minute chat eventually was steered toward his contract, which is in its fifth and final year. He can secure a return for 2016 by reaching 586 plate appearances to satisfy a vesting option for 2016.

But he might not have to log even one plate appearance before another year is locked up.

General manager Jon Daniels said that the Rangers could pick up the $16 million option before the season, if for no other reason than to ensure that the clause isn’t an ongoing storyline throughout the season.

It would also be another step toward making the Rangers the final baseball home of Beltre’s career, which many believe will include enshrinement in the National Baseball Hall of Fame.

Both sides, the player and the club, want that to happen. Beltre, though, also wants to win a World Series and wants to be certain that the Rangers are trending the right way.

“I don’t have time to waste,” said Beltre, who turns 36 on April 7. “We have a really good team. I believe we have a good enough team to win the West. Right now I believe the team is going the right way. But you never know.”

He is almost certain to pass 400 homers this season, needing only four to reach the plateau, and is 396 hits shy of 3,000, but his No. 1 goal is a world championship.

Beltre acknowledged that a decision from club brass to begin rebuilding with younger players would push him away from Arlington, and he watched last season as the Rangers trotted out several young players once the season had been declared lost.

The heir apparent at third base, Joey Gallo, is in his first big-league camp.

Daniels, though, said that the club’s future doesn’t include going young.

“One, I think we’re going to be good in 2015,” Daniels said. “It’s not a situation where there’s a big gap in our system and all we have are these 18- and 19-year-old kids. We have kids that are knocking on the door that are here in camp that are, in our minds, going to be ready to contribute at a high level in a relatively short amount of time.

“I feel pretty good about the short and medium term as well, which is where his mindset is. And I respect that. He wants to win now and in the foreseeable future.”

Beltre is enjoying arguably the best three-year stretch of his career, with a .320/.372/.521 slash line (batting average/on-base percentage/slugging), and for sure the best five-year stretch at .316/.364/.535. Instead of declining with age, Beltre has only gotten better.

And he doesn’t want to slow down. Asked if he wants to get a few extra days off or more games at designated hitter, he responded by saying that he hopes to play all 162 games. He had a stint on the 15-day disabled list last season, but still managed to play 148 games.

That included the season finale, and a final at-bat that left an impression on new manager Jeff Banister. Beltre fell behind 0-2 against Oakland ace Sonny Gray, but three pitches later had fought for a single that prevented him from making the final out of the season.

It reinforced to Banister that Beltre is a “heart-and-soul” kind of player.

“That’s all you need to know,” Banister said. “There are some veteran players that may not have even played in that game. He played, and he grinded out an at-bat. It was a true workman at-bat. Play and finish till the end.”

If Beltre and the Rangers have it their way, he will play till the end of his career in a Rangers uniform.

“I’m comfortable here. I like the city. I love the fans,” Beltre said. “I can’t say how appreciative I am of the organization. But it all depends. The main focus of me for what I’ve got left is to win. If this team shows that they want to win, I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

This story was originally published February 22, 2015 at 10:51 AM with the headline "Adrian Beltre wants to finish his career with the Rangers."