Of the many Texas Rangers to leave, this is the guy they still can’t seem to replace

The Texas Rangers have spent approximately $3.4 trillion over the last two years to improve their team, and they still can’t find a way to replace Adrian Beltre.

The future Hall of Famer retired after the 2018 season, and he currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and their three kids.

He’s not coming of retirement to play, or to coach; he’s currently involved as a part owner of a new professional league that has deep pockets, and aims to boom in the Middle East and South Asia.

Of the many free agents the team has signed over the years, the best one they ever bagged, with the exception of Nolan Ryan, is Adrian Beltre.

Since he retired the team has not found his glove at third base, although maybe Josh Jung can do it. Since he retired they have tried mightily to replace his bat, although the combination of Corey Seager and Marcus Semien should do it.

And they certainly have not found Beltre’s equal in a clubhouse that desperately needs a Beltre presence to look up to.

Even he sees it. When he has watched Rangers games in the past what he sees is an issue.

“A ball drops between the fielders and it’s like, ‘Oh, no problem. It’s OK,’” he said this week in a zoom interview. “They need the leadership. You do need that guy, but that takes time. When I was in Boston and in Seattle, I had guys to learn from and watch.”

When Beltre came to the Rangers in 2011, he didn’t immediately fill that role.

“It was Michael Young, Ian Kinsler,” Beltre said. “Those were the guys who really were the presence in the clubhouse, and had the leadership role. After they left, then I moved into that role.

From about 2012 to 2018, Beltre was almost a de facto manager. He set a standard in professionalism and effort, and no one wanted to let him down.

There has been a void ever since he left.

What Adrian Beltre is doing now

With three young children at home, Beltre has no interest in returning to a full-time baseball job. He does want to be around baseball.

Along with former MLB All-Stars Barry Larkin and Mariano Rivera, Beltre has joined Baseball United, a professional league that soon launch in the Middle East and South Asia; think India and Pakistan.

Beltre has joined as an investor, and will serve on Baseball United’s board of directors.

The pro league will be based out of Dubai, and effectively serve as a winter ball season. The first four teams will be announced after the conclusion of the World Baseball Classic this spring.

There will be a four-team tournament in Dubai in November with rosters full of international players; expect a roster of players from India, Japan, South America, all over Europe, etc.

“There are good players all over the world but people in America don’t know because they’re not in (Major League Baseball),” Baseball United President and CEO Kash Shaikh said in the same interview session with Beltre.

Shaikh is convinced there is a potentially massive market in this region of the world for the game of baseball. He’s also convinced a lot of people with money to buy in on investing to create a professional baseball league.

“It’s stick and ball sports, and this region of the world is clamoring for more of this,” Shaikh said. “Cricket is incredibly popular in this region of the world, and there is a genuine high level of interest in baseball.

“We think over time this can become the second-highest level of baseball behind MLB.”

Shaikh said his startup is not looking to compete with MLB. It is looking more to complement MLB; that players who come through the Baseball United league can use it as a showcase to score an shot at big league baseball.

What they are hoping to do is expand a game that, for a variety of reasons, has either hit a plateau or regressed, here in the United States.

It’s something that Beltre acknowledges, and he’s not exactly sure why.

He’s on board with Baseball United because it will give him the chance to be around baseball, while being able to spend time with his children.

And he’s not coming back to the Rangers, even though they still miss him.