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Beltre says 21 enough for career

The Associated Press

ARLINGTON, Texas — Adrian Beltre had a sometimes-imposing stare and plenty of quirky habits. He also had a genuine love for the game, and a lot of fun in a Hall of Fame-caliber career.

After 21 big league seasons in which Beltre hit 477 home runs and became the first player from the Dominican Republic to have 3,000 hits, the slick-fielding third baseman for the Texas Rangers retired Tuesday at age 39.

“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,” Beltre said in a statement. “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.”

Beltre, who will be eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot in five years, was a .286 hitter with 1,707 RBIs in 2,933 career games. His 3,166 hits rank 16th on the career list, with his homers total 30th and RBIs 24th. He played 2,759 games at third base — only Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson had more.

“As much fun as people see us having at the ballpark all of the time, and playing around, I haven’t met somebody that was more detailed about the game than him,” Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus said. “He’s going to be missed for sure. It’s going to be different.”

The four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove winner was 19 when he made his big league debut with the Dodgers in 1998. Beltre played with Los Angeles until 2004, the Seattle Mariners from 2005-09 and the Boston Red Sox in 2010. He joined the Rangers on a $96 million, six-year free-agent deal in 2011, and appeared in his only World Series in his first season with Texas.

“The thing for me that stood out that I was unaware of … was how much he fun he had,” Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said. “He’s obviously got an intense demeanor and it probably takes a little while for everybody to kind of get comfortable with him because he’s an intimidating guy, just because he’s so regimented and serious.”

Beltre hit a Texas-high .273 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs in 119 games this season, when he went on the disabled list twice because of a strained left hamstring. He was limited in 2017 to 94 games, his fewest since 77 as a rookie, because of calf and hamstring issues. He got his 3,000th career hit on July 30, 2017, the 31st major leaguer to reach that milestone.

Elsewhere:

n The Seattle Mariners have hired veteran coach Perry Hill as their new first base and infield coach after Scott Brosius decided not to return to the coaching staff in 2019. Hill has spent the past six seasons with Miami and worked extensively with Seattle’s Dee Gordon during his time there. Hill has spent 23 years coaching in the majors and 32 years overall in pro ball. Brosius had spent the past two seasons on the staff of manager Scott Servais and was invited back for 2019 but declined his contract offer.

n Kurt Suzuki finalized a $10 million, two-year contract to return to the Washington Nationals. The 35-year-old gets $4 million next year and $6 million in 2020, up from $3.5 million last season, his second with the Atlanta Braves. Suzuki is the first player of the 164 who hit free agency after the World Series to switch teams and the ninth with a finalized agreement. He hit .271 with 12 homers and 50 RBIs in 2018 as Atlanta won the NL East ahead of the second-place Nationals. General manager Mike Rizzo announced the finalized agreement Tuesday after Suzuki passed a physical.

n Pitcher Jenrry Mejia was released Tuesday by the New York Mets after serving three drug suspensions. The 29-year-old right-hander from the Dominican Republic was told in July by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred that he could return to the big leagues in 2019. Mejia was suspended for life on Feb. 12, 2016, after his third positive test for a banned steroid. The drug agreement allowed him to apply a year later for reinstatement that would be effective a minimum of two years after the ban started, with the decision at the commissioner’s discretion. Mejia is 9-14 with a 3.68 ERA in 18 starts and 95 relief appearances. In addition to random drug tests, he is subject annually to six additional urine tests and three additional blood tests.

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