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12/17/2004 5:18 PM ET
Mariners sign Adrian Beltre
2004 Major League home-run leader inks five-year deal
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Seattle Mariners Executive Vice President & General Manager of Baseball Operations Bill Bavasi announced today that the club has agreed to terms on a five-year contract with free agent third baseman Adrian Beltre. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed. Two days ago, the Mariners signed free agent first baseman Richie Sexson.
"Adrian is one of the best young position players in baseball," Bavasi said. "He plays Gold Glove caliber defense and is an offensive force. In addition, he is a perfect fit for our goal of building for 2005 and beyond. For everything he's accomplished, he's only 25 years old. We believe he is just entering his prime and we are very excited to know that his prime will be spent in a Mariners uniform at Safeco Field.
"We are also pleased that, like Richie Sexson, Adrian is a great person as well as a great player. He will be a terrific addition to our community."
Beltre, 25, led the Majors with 48 home runs for the Los Angeles Dodgers last season, matching the Major League record for most home runs by a third baseman, equaling Mike Schmidt's total in 1980. Beltre also finished among the NL leaders in almost every offensive category, batting .334 (4th) with 121 RBI (4th) while finishing second in the National League MVP balloting, earning him his first Silver Slugger. He received the Humanitarian Award, presented at the RBI (Reviving Baseball in Inner cities) Hall of Fame Dinner last summer.
Adrian was the only player in the Majors to collect at least 45 home runs and at least 200 hits in 2004, becoming just the 11th player in Major League history with that combination. He had 63 multi-hit games last season, 7 multi-homer games (giving him 11 in his career) and three grand slams while committing a career-low 10 errors at third base. Beltre also led the Majors with 26 home runs in the second half in 2004.
"Adrian is a perfect fit for how I envision the Mariners, next season and into the future," Mariners manager Mike Hargrove said. "This gives us an infield with, basically, three Gold Glovers, pop at both corners and at second base and an exciting young player at shortstop.
"We are a much better team today than we were a couple of days ago. With Beltre, Sexson and Boone in the middle of our order and Ichiro at the top, we now have the ability to run a real legitimate line-up out there every day."
Beltre had played his entire seven-year career with the Dodgers, making his ML debut in 1998 at the age of 19. He owns a .274 career average with 147 home runs and 510 RBI. He is one of only 36 players in Major League history to reach 100 home runs, prior to his 25th birthday; when he collected his 100th homer on April 6, 2003 he joined Cal Ripken Jr. and Lou Gehrig as the three players in history to have exactly 100 home runs on their 25th birthday.
The 5-foot-11, 220-pound right-handed hitter was born (on April 7, 1979) and resides in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, with his wife, Sandra, and daughter, Cassandra. Adrian is one of only four Dominicans in Major League history (Sammy Sosa, 5 times; Beltre, George Bell and Manny Ramirez) to collect at least 45 home runs in a season. He was signed by Los Angeles as a non-drafted free agent on July 7, 1994.
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