ESPN's Buster Olney tweeted earlier today that the Texas Rangers are moving aggressively on free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre. Olney, a former New York Yankees beat writer for the New York Times and author of The Last Night of the Yankee Dynasty, speculated that this could be in preparation for Cliff Lee rejecting Texas' contract offer and signing with the Yankees.
↵Beltre was excellent in 2010 for the Boston Red Sox, hitting .321/.365/.553 with 28 home runs while providing brilliant defense at third base. Texas still has Michael Young under contract and trade talks have apparently cooled between the Rangers and Rockies - though they could easily heat up again if a Beltre signing is imminent. Beltre would provide a significant upgrade at the hot corner both offensively and defensively over the franchise icon Young.
↵The Rangers could also keep Young and sign Beltre and simply shift Young to designated hitter and let free agent Vladimir Guerrero sign with another team.
↵It is unlikely that the Rangers will make any moves before Lee makes his decision. Lee is expected to decide between the Yankees and Rangers at some point this week.
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