Carlos Beltran says playing in Texas is 'more about baseball' than in New York

39-year-old designated hitter Carlos Beltran has spent only two and a half weeks with the AL West leading Texas Rangers, but the change in scenery hasn't been a difficult adjustment. While everything may be considered big in Texas, the media environment is far from it, and Beltran recently joined 103.3 ESPN Radio in Dallas to discuss the differences between playing in Texas and New York. Well, you know what? Playing in Texas ... it's relaxing, man. Being here, for me, I feel so weird because playing in New York, you know, every day I feel like I talk to the media before the games, after the games, and there were like 30-40 guys in the clubhouse every single day. And here, there's maybe four or five, and sometimes they don't even want to talk to you.  So, for me it's kind of weird, but they're two different markets - even though this team is a big-market team. But at the end of the day, [in] New York there's a lot of distractions, a lot of things going on more than baseball. Here it's more about baseball. [Jeff] Banister is more laid-back. I think Joe Girardi has a lot of things going on in New York. Beltran, who was dealt by New York in exchange for Rangers' top-pitching prospect Dillon Tate and two others at the trade deadline, becomes a free agent at the season's end, and told NJ Advance Media's Brendan Kuty that he would be open to re-signing with the Yankees in 2017. In 15 games with the Rangers, Beltran has hit .315 with two home runs and eight runs batted in.