SURPRISE, Ariz. -- The Rangers typically use Spring Training to address possible contract extensions to key players.
Third baseman Adrian Beltre is at the top of the list. He is in the final year of a six-year contract and can be a free agent after the upcoming season. He turns 37 on April 7, but the Rangers still want to extend him beyond this season.
"It's hard to add much to what he has done," Rangers general manager Jon Daniels said going into Spring Training. "He's one of the greatest players of all time, maybe the greatest player I've personally had a chance to work with."
There was some doubt last spring if Beltre would be with the Rangers beyond his current contract. The Rangers were coming off a 95-loss season and Beltre made it clear he wanted to be on a winning team.
Those concerns were alleviated last season, when the Rangers came back to win their division.
"Adrian is not a player who comes in, sits down and wants to know what moves we are making," Daniels said. "Adrian is focused on getting ready and supporting his teammates. But I think directionally, clearly he wants to win. As do we.
Beltre signed with the Rangers in 2011, one year after they went to the World Series for the first time in club history.
When he came here in 2011, that was the discussion -- he wanted to know it wasn't a one-year thing … that we were committed to winning," Daniels said. "Like any player, he has good days and bad days -- we have moves that work and don't work -- but there has been a consistency since he has been here. Our focus is trying to put the best possible team on the field.
"That's something he appreciates. He feels we've lived up to what we said we were going to do. That's why both sides want to continue the relationship past this year."
There have been some preliminary discussions to this point, and negotiations will likely get more serious while the Rangers are in Arizona.
"There is nothing new," Daniels said. "We have been focused on putting the club together, arbitration, things like that. In Spring Training, we'll circle back and address a few open-ended items."
Beltre's agent, Scott Boras, told Fox Sports, "They want him there and we are going to work on that. I'd say there are certainly grounds for a discussion of advancing Adrian's contract, yes."