Would it make any sense for Adrian Beltre to return to the Texas Rangers?

Adrian Beltre is still pondering retirement. Even if he doesn’t retire, why would he want to rejoin the rebuilding Texas Rangers?

A decision has yet to be made by Adrian Beltre as to whether or not he will play baseball in 2019. Early indications seem to be leaning towards retirement; however, until the door is shut, Beltre fans will remain hopeful of a return.

Texas Rangers fans remain hopeful that he won’t only return to baseball, but that he’ll return to the Rangers. In fact, many feel that would be the obvious choice. Unfortunately, it’s probably not.

Beltre’s agent, Scott Boras (of course), is confident that more teams than just the Rangers will be interested in signing the future Hall of Famer if he decides to play.

I’m here to play party pooper by projecting Adrian Beltre does not play for Texas, at least not next season.

Why would he? If he’s on his last leg in Major League Baseball, why suit up for a team that is rebuilding and nowhere close to contending for a championship?

Had Beltre already won a championship, the circumstances would be different. But he hasn’t. He’s done everything else. He’s joined the 3,000-hit club, he’s nearing 500 career home runs, and he’s laid the red carpet for an eventual Hall of Fame induction.

From an individual standpoint, Adrian Beltre has done it all. But it’s a shame that someone who is all about the team has not won the ultimate team award–a World Series.

No World Series is guaranteed. He could join the Boston Red Sox or Houston Astros or Los Angeles Dodgers, but none of those teams will guarantee him a ring. Though, what they will guarantee him is a contending season.

At the very least, Beltre would once again feel the anticipation and energy that he felt with the Texas Rangers only a few seasons ago when they were competitive. That’s a whole lot better than returning to the Rangers of current, full well knowing his team won’t be playing important games in August and September.

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I’m not saying there’s a 0% chance he returns to Texas. The Rangers would afford him ample playing time, he’d get to maintain his personal life and he’d get to play with his long time friends. But is all of that worth avoiding retirement? Beltre would essentially be replaying his 2018 season. Nothing would change.

If he truly wanted to make his final season special, he would put himself in a position to win a championship, something he hasn’t accomplished in his 21-year career.

The Rangers had their shot to give him that. They came as close as a team could (literally), but they couldn’t get the job done. Now, they are once again rebuilding. And it’s a bad time to rebuild in consideration of the greatest third baseman in club history.

The best I can give to our Texas Rangers following is the possibility that Adrian Beltre does come back to Texas for the first four months of the 2019 regular season. By the end of July, he would be traded to a contender. That’s the best of all worlds.

Still, that scenario would be a major risk for Beltre if he does intend to play for a contender at some point in the season. How so? The soon-to-be 40-year-old will more than likely have his struggles in the health department. An unhealthy Adrian Beltre could lead to retirement or it could deter contenders from trading for him.

It will be interesting to see how everything plays out. First and foremost, he needs to decide to retire or not to retire. We shouldn’t be too far from that impending, attention-consuming decision.