Rangers lock up Adrian Beltre through 2018

Texas Rangers' third baseman Adrian Beltre might have just turned 37 last week, but he plays like he just turned 27. 

So, despite his age, the Rangers made it a priority to keep him in Arlington, with 2016 being his last season on his current six-year, $96 million deal signed with the club in the 2010-2011 offseason. 

And on Friday, the two sides agreed to a two-year, $36 million contract extension, as T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com and Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News first reported. 

Beltre, who has been with the Rangers since 2011, which is the second-longest amount of time he has been with any club, has a .309/.358/.515 slash line since joining Texas, good for a 133 OPS+. 

In this timeframe, Beltre has the second-highest OPS of any third baseman in baseball. The only player he is behind, Miguel Cabrera, has not played third base regularly since 2013. 

Now, Beltre will get to finish up his career with the Rangers, the team he may end up going into the Baseball Hall of Fame with. Once this reported deal concludes, he'll have spent more time with the Rangers than anyone else. 

Rangers' general manager Jon Daniels and Beltre both expressed sentiments during Spring Training about the possibility and the desire to complete a new deal. 

Beltre did say, however, that he was not willing to negotiate an extension in-season, but would be willing to look if an offer was put on the table. 

In 2015, Beltre hit .287/.334/.453 with 18 home runs and 83 RBIs in 619 plate apperanaces, posting a 110 OPS+ and a 4.6 FanGraphs' Wins Above Replacement. So far in 2016, he has a .310/.370/.571 line in 46 plate appearances. 

--Devan Fink

---