Mar 22, 2014; Surprise, AZ, USA; Texas Rangers center fielder Engel Beltre (43) scores a run in the seven inning and is high fived by Texas Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus (1) against the Kansas City Royals at Surprise Stadium. The Royals won 8-4. Mandatory Credit: Joe Camporeale-USA TODAY Sports
In a recent listing on their “Minor Moves” page, MLB Trade Rumors wrote that the Chicago White Sox have signed Engel Beltre to a minor league contract.
Here is what the mlbtraderumors.com article said:
"“And the White Sox signed center fielder Engel Beltre, a defense-first player who has struggled to produce offensively and missed most of last year with a fractured tibia.”"
Looking at the stats of Beltre, he played in 22 games in 2013 with the Texas Rangers, with 40 at-bats. In his short time in the majors, the centerfielder batted .250 with a .275 slugging percentage and .543 on-base percentage.
Beltre totaled just 10 hits with one being a double, being his lone extra-base hit.
He was 1-of-3 in stolen base attempts, and he struck out five times in ’13 at the MLB level. Beltre also scored seven runs and had 11 total bases.
Beltre is very good defensively as stated above, with a 1.000 fielding percentage in 95 innings (26 chances) where he played all three outfield positions, including six games in right field and five games each in center and left field.
The outfielder was originally signed by the Boston Red Sox in 2007 as an amateur free agent. He was then traded to the Rangers in 2007 before being granted free agency this past November.
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While in the minors, the 25-year-old Beltre has built a .262 batting average, which includes parts of two Triple-A seasons and five seasons in Double-A.
He has 269 career RBIs in MiLB play and 147 stolen bases, with none since the ’13 season where he had 15 while playing for Round Rock.
In ’12, Beltre totaled 36 steals in his time in Double-A.
Beltre could be a good fit for the White Sox minor league system, and maybe after recovering from his broken leg, he’ll get an opportunity to see where he stands within the organization and just how well he’s recovered.
This past December, CBS Chicago wrote the following about an incident with Starlin Casto, who was cleared of any wrongdoing:
"“Latinofoxnews.com reported that Castro and Engel Beltre, a prospect in the Rangers organization, were ‘being sought for questioning by police in Santo Domingo in connection to a firefight at a nightclub.'”"
Beltre was not a non-roster invite to spring training.