Mike Stanton has 35 homers after 365 days in the big leagues

By Aaron GleemanJun 9, 2011, 1:18 PM EDT
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Yesterday marked the one-year anniversary of the Marlins calling up Mike Stanton and Joe Frisaro of MLB.com notes that his power numbers after 365 days as a big leaguer are every bit as impressive as the hype suggested.

Stanton has struggled to make consistent contact, striking out 184 times compared to 51 non-intentional walks, and not surprisingly he has a modest .258 batting average and .333 on-base percentage.

But oh man the power: He has 35 homers and 34 doubles in 554 at-bats through his first year, which includes 157 games. According to Baseball-Reference.com, here’s a list of the all-time leaders in home runs through a player’s first 157 games:

Rudy York         45
Mark McGwire      41
Ryan Braun        41
Ryan Howard       39
Chuck Klein       38
Frank Robinson    36
Bob Horner        36
Tony Clark        36
Albert Pujols     35
MIKE STANTON      35
Josh Hamilton     35
Ron Kittle        35

Oh, and Stanton won’t be 22 years old until November.

Rangers don’t plan to make qualifying offer to Adrián Beltré

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images
By Bill BaerOct 22, 2018, 9:07 PM EDT
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Rangers GM Jon Daniels said he doesn’t expect the club to make a $17.9 million qualifying offer to free agent third baseman Adrián Beltré, MLB.com’s T.R. Sullivan reports. Daniels has been in touch with the 39-year-old, who may retire.

Beltré battled hip and hamstring issues throughout the past season, limiting him to 119 games. He hit .273/.328/.434 with 15 home runs and 65 RBI in 481 plate appearances. Going by adjusted OPS, his mark of 98 — 100 is average — was his lowest in a season since 2009 with the Mariners. Beltré’s career average is 116 and he put up a 132 in 2017 and 128 in ’16.

Beltré appears to have some stuff left in the tank. He may not be an All-Star-caliber player anymore, but he can still hit at an average level and he is still an above-average defender. It’s just a matter of his body holding up to allow him to do what he needs to do. If Beltré does decide to re-up with the Rangers for 2019, the club will be prepared to move Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Jurickson Profar over to the hot corner as they did in 2018 in the event Beltré gets bitten by the injury bug.