Texas Rangers legend Adrián Beltré praised the team Thursday for their offseason acquisition of two-time NL Cy Young award winner Jacob deGrom. The 34-year-old former New York Met signed a five-year deal with the Rangers in early December.
While fans in the Lone Star State may already be experiencing some anxiety over deGrom’s latest injury news, Beltré feels good about his former team’s busy winter.
“Jacob deGrom is a great addition to the Rangers, definitely one of the best pitchers in the game,” the 2024 National Baseball Hall of Fame candidate said during an interview with Yardbarker.
Last summer, Hall of Famers Barry Larkin and Mariano Rivera joined the ownership group for United International Baseball League (UIBL) — now called Baseball United — which is the “first-ever professional baseball league created to serve the Middle East and the Indian Subcontinent.” Beltré teamed up with Larkin and Rivera as co-owners earlier this week.
Baseball United had their inaugural showcase (the West Asia Cup) in late January in Dubai, which was won by Pakistan. The league will have a two-week showcase in Dubai in November featuring four teams and will be broadcast worldwide.
Beltré discussed deGrom and the rest of the current Rangers team Thursday with Yardbarker, calling the righty “nasty.” He said he had just one at-bat against the four-time All-Star (in an exhibition game) and was “glad it was only once.”
The 43-year-old Beltré said that on top of the deGrom addition, he’s been a fan of the moves that Texas made in recent offseasons, noting the pickups of shortstop Corey Seager and second baseman Marcus Semien. The former five-time Gold Glove award winner and four-time All-Star admitted, however, that the defending World Series-champion Houston Astros are still the class of the AL West.
“I’ve liked what the team has been doing the last couple of years. They’ve been adding good pieces — talented guys — to help them compete in a very tough division,” Beltré said. “The Astros are the defending champs and still the ones to beat, and Seattle is coming on strong too. It’s a tough division. I’m looking forward to seeing how the Rangers play this year.”
