I know Ronald Acuna Jr. Jersey , but sted in Bryce Harper, according to a reporter who has spent the last several months finding new ways to say that the Phillies are probably going to sign Bryce Harper. That reporter is Jon Heyman, of course. And the “mystery teams” are probably made up by Harper’s agent as leverage, of course. And even if those mystery teams exist, the Indians aren’t one of them. Of course. But, hear me out: What if. What if Chris Antonetti and the rest of the Indians front office were repeatedly lambasted this offseason for unwillingness to spend money, only to hop out at the last second and nab the biggest free agent? What if that cheeky son of a gun really knew all along that the Indians were negotiating with Bryce Harper while he told the media that the Tribe were done spending? Honestly, it would make a whole lot more sense than just dumping Yan Gomes to free up salary, or trading away the rest of Edwin Encarnacion’s contract, plus Yandy Diaz, for Jake Bauers — a modest upgrade over Yandy Diaz. The Indians took advantage of a similarly caving free agent market two offseasons ago when they brought in Edwin Encarnacion on an extremely reasonable three-year, $60 million deal. It seems like nothing now, but he was easilythe biggest free agent the 2016-2017 offeseason, even before Yoenis Cespedes quickly took a deal to return to the New York Mets. The Indians didn’t balk at his looming 34th birthday and paired him with Carlos Santana to help the Tribe become one of the best teams in 2017. The stakes are much different with Bryce Harper, though. He’s not a 34-year-old first baseman about to hit the downturn of his career. Unlike Encarnacion, Harper is going to either want a lengthy deal, or an overwhelming AAV to convince him not to be the next 10-year contract guy. Regardless of how slow the offseason has been, there is going to be competition for him. Even if that’s just the filthy rich Phillies or Nationals or Giants or whoever else is bidding on his services, the Indians wouldn’t go into this alone. It’s going to cost a hell of a lot more than $60 million. First, let’s look at why the Indians could potentially do something like this, despite previous protests from the front office. As of last April, according to Forbes, the Indians are valued at $1.05 billion Sean Newcomb Jersey , with an estimated operating income of $31 million — and that’s before they got rid of the Encarnacion and Gomes contracts. Keep that number in minds, it’s important. The current owners, Paul and Larry Dolan, purchased the Indians for $323 million in 2000, meaning they aren’t one of those owners who recently dumped a truckload of money for their team and are trying to get their head above water. They’ve owned the team for going on two decades now and have rarely operated in the red. option in 2020. That’s 39 percent of the money you owe Harper in the first two years gone already. Who cares what prospect(s) it is — you’re on the verge of signing Bryce Harper, you can deal with losing Nolan Jones. The other difficult aspect of this is selling it to Bryce himself. He may have already accepted that he won’t get the length he wants. He may have already accepted that he won’t get to play where he wants, but he’s probably not going to settle on both. Three years clearly isn’t the desired length, and as much as I love Cleveland and the Indians I don’t think he ever envisioned himself with a Block C and chilling at Melt after the big game. To this point, the Indians haven’t been public suitors, either, meaning they probably haven’t had a big pitch to him to entice him. So allow me to do it for them. Even without Bryce, the Indians are projected by PECOTA to win 97 games as the second-best team in baseball. He’s virtually guaranteed a playoff spot all three years he’d be in Cleveland along with one of the best rotations in baseball, along with two of the best offensive teammates in Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez. He can spend all of the regular season hammering on horrid pitching staffs of the AL Central racking up those sweet ribbies, and be a hero in the postseason. Imagine the kind of legacy you build for yourself heading into the 2021-2022 offseason having been the guy that ended the league’s longest World Series drought? On top of that, the current CBA — you know, the one that put him in this position to begin with — expires in 2021. If he truly believes that things will be better on the other side of those negotiations, taking a three-year deal is perfect and makes him the first big-name free agent in the new open market. I’m not saying it’ll make sense, and I’m certainly not saying it’ll happen, but come on... Indians. Bryce. Just do it and be legends. ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Adrian Beltre went into this offseason pretty sure he had played his last game after 21 big league seasons.“I just waited a little longer than I wanted to,” Beltre said, explaining Friday he wanted to make sure he wasn’t one of those players who retired and then had desire to get back on the field. “I was waiting for that, but I didn’t get it.”While Beltre knows he will miss baseball Preston Tucker Jersey , the four-time All-Star and five-time Gold Glove third baseman said he is “completely happy” with his decision.Beltre, who spent the last eight seasons of his Hall of Fame-caliber career with the Texas Rangers, said goodbye in a laughter-filled news conference at the ballpark where he joined the 3,000-hit club in 2017.There were no tears from the 39-year-old Beltre, who had announced his decision 10 days earlier and answered questions for about 30 minutes.“I didn’t expect to be emotional because I’m really happy with what I am doing,” said Beltre, pointing out that he didn’t even have a handkerchief with him.The packed room, decorated with photos and memorabilia from Beltre’s career, included former teammates Elvis Andrus, Michael Young, Yu Darvish, Derek Holland and Ian Kinsler.Beltre’s only World Series appearance came in 2011, his first with the Rangers. That team included Andrus, Young, Holland and Kinsler. Beltre called that team his most fun.His wife Sandra and his three children sat on the front row. Twelve-year-old Adrian Jr. had his own locker in the Rangers clubhouse, and spent many hours in the outfield hitting balls thrown by his father. Beltre’s 14-year-old daughter is in high school and his youngest daughter is 8.“It wasn’t an easy decision to just walk away, because inside, I believe that I can still play,” Beltre said. “But for me to think that it was just a sad day? No, because I’m looking forward to being there for my family every day.”About two weeks ago, Beltre called Rangers general manager Jon Daniels to let him know he had made a decision.It started as a solemn conversation, with Beltre telling the GM what a tough decision it was. Belte went on to say he decided he was going to play — for the Los Angeles Dodgers, the team he debuted with in 1998 at age 19.“I don’t know how I responded Zack Greinke Jersey , if it was awkward silence or I stumbled over my words,” Daniels said.Then Beltre, who also played for Seattle and Boston, started laughing.“Adrian has left an indelible mark on the Texas Rangers and the entire game. He is one of the elites to ever play the game,” Daniels said. “He really stands out off the field as much as on it.”Eligible for the Hall of Fame ballot in five years, Beltre was a .286 hitter with 477 homers and 1,707 RBIs in 2,933 games. The Dominican’s 3,166 hits rank 16th and are the most by a foreign-born player. He played 2,759 games at third base; only Hall of Famer Brooks Robinson had more.The only time Beltre has been to Cooperstown was in the late 1990s, when he got invited there with the Dodgers while still a teenager in their minor league system.“At that time, I didn’t know how special that place was,” he said.Beltre hit a Texas-high .273 with 15 homers and 65 RBIs in 119 games this season, when he went on the disabled list twice because of a strained left hamstring. He was limited in 2017 to 94 games, his fewest since 77 as a rookie, because of calf and hamstring issues. Those factored into his decision.“In my mind, I always wanted to go out on my own terms. I did not want to be pushed out of the game,” Beltre said. “I can deal with slumps, or a bad stretch. But when I get hurt, I can’t stand it. I didn’t want to go through another year like that, so I think it was the perfect time for me to do it.”