Rangers not yet focused on future roster decisions

Adrian Beltre showed up at the ballpark Sunday afternoon with his right calf feeling fine some 24 hours after running the bases for the first time in six weeks.

That’s exactly what the Texas Rangers needed to hear from their third baseman, who hasn’t played for them yet this season. That, though, appears likely to change at some point in the next two weeks, and that’s not all that will change.

The roster will have to be shuffled to make room for Beltre to come off the 10-day disabled list. During the first week of the season, when it appeared Beltre would come off the DL, the decision was a no-brainer: Joey Gallo to Triple A Round Rock.

Gallo, though, has made that decision tougher as the team’s leader in crushing baseballs. The Rangers might not want to part with that power element, despite the strikeouts and sub-.200 batting average.

The Rangers, though, aren’t looking that far ahead.

“I know the implication of the question with Adrian coming back,” manager Jeff Banister said. “We still have to go through the process of all options of what we do. There is the sanctity of the 25, putting the best 25 on the field and how they all fit together.”

Banister said that Gallo has not started to practice at other positions, namely left field. He played there often in spring training and said that he enjoys it, and he showed the Rangers that he can do it capably.

The general assumption is that Gallo will remain with the Rangers once Beltre returns, but Banister said that the Rangers haven’t dived into the decision-making deep end yet.

“We’re not going through the process of, ‘Oh, well, on this date ... ,’ ” Banister said. “We’re aware of where we are.

“The thing you’ve got to guard against is if you start planting that seed on guys’ minds, you starting drawing some players’ focus away from what you want them to do. Are you making it a challenge for them? Or you can keep them focused on what they’re doing, and when you need to make those decisions, you can.”

This story was originally published May 21, 2017 at 5:28 PM with the headline "Rangers not yet focused on future roster decisions."