Adrian Beltre Was The Best

Kyle Bishop reflects on the career of Adrian Beltre - a consistently great player in both real and fantasy baseball, and one of its most fun and endearing ambassadors.

You may have noticed that this is my first article in nearly two months. Much more likely, you didn't, but either way it's true. While I usually take the month of October off to recharge after the long slog of the regular season to kick back and watch postseason action without having to consider fantasy impact, a longer respite was needed this time around. 2018 was a trying season for me as a writer and an owner, and my usual end of season burnout felt notably worse than in years past. It's fitting, then, that what brings me back into action is the opportunity to sing the praises of one of my favorite players ever.

Adrian Beltre, who announced his retirement on Tuesday after a 21-year MLB career, was simply a joy to watch. The greatest defensive third basemen not named Brooks Robinson to ever play the game, he was also a gifted hitter and, his final two seasons notwithstanding, quite durable to boot. The latter two qualities enabled him to finish his career as the only player at his position with 3,000 hits and 400 home runs. Beltre won five Gold Gloves and two Platinum Gloves during his career, and probably deserved a few more of them. He made four All-Star teams (in retrospect, far too few), won four Silver Slugger awards, and finished top 10 in Most Valuable Player voting six times, including twice after turning 35 years old. He finished second in 2004, his best season overall, due only to the existence of Barry Bonds, whose insane talent was at that time also augmented by performance-enhancing drugs. By either Fangraphs' or Baseball-Reference's computation of WAR, Beltre's 2004 season - .334 batting average, 48 home runs, 121 runs batted in, 104 runs scored, seven stolen bases, and the best defensive performance of his career - was the greatest ever by a third baseman.

After that season, he entered free agency for the first time and signed a five-year contract with Seattle. Despite disappointing performances in the first and final seasons of the deal, a home park that suppressed right-handed power, and a gruesome injury suffered after being nailed in the groin by a ground ball - he said his testicle "swelled up to the size of a grapefruit," which oh god why - Beltre ultimately outperformed that contract. However, because he had never come close to the dizzying heights of his breakout year and because his final season in Seattle was the worst of his career, Beltre wound up signing a one-year deal with Boston to rebuild his value. He did just that, producing what would stand as the best year of his career outside of his 2004 coming out party. From 2010 through 2016, Beltre finished second among all third basemen in batting average, runs, homers, and RBI (Miguel Cabrera led the position in all four categories). It was also during that stretch that he embarked upon one of the best streaks in the sport this side of Khris Davis - in every season from 2011 to 2018, Beltre stole exactly one base.

For all his impressive accomplishments, what endeared Beltre to me and countless other baseball fans was his obvious sense of humor and affection for the game. Rarely seen without a smile on his face - unless, of course, someone was touching his head - he was universally regarded as a great teammate and a hard worker. Unlike many Debbie Downer veterans, though, you could always tell that Beltre was having fun playing the game. I badly wanted my Phillies to sign him back in 2010, and when they were rumored to be interested in trading for him this year, I was all for it even though he'd clearly lost a step due to age and injury. This past season was really the only one since the end of his Mariners tenure where he wasn't a major asset, both in real life and in fantasy.

Given that he'd suited up for just 213 games in the last two years and was a free agent, Beltre's retirement announcement doesn't exactly come as a surprise. It is, however, a major bummer. Time remains undefeated, and we are all the poorer for it. It's not hard to imagine that if he wants to remain in the game as a coach or a commentator, he'll have ample opportunities to do so. Let's hope he does, because baseball is better when Adrian Beltre is a part of it.