ARLINGTON -- If you ask Michael Young, he knew Adrian Beltré would be in the Hall of Fame pretty early on. He wasn’t positive when Beltré was playing for the Rangers’ division rival Mariners. But as soon as Beltré stepped into Texas’ clubhouse, it was clear.

“You play with somebody, and you gain a whole 'nother level of [respect] for the way they do it,” Young said of Beltré. “He's 0-for-3 but doesn't give the fourth one away. Boom, base hit into right field. He gets momentum into the next day. He's showing up, doesn't give anything away, never takes a play off on defense.

“All those small things, you start looking at that, and you're like, wow, this guy's a really, really special player. It didn't take long, once we were teammates, for me to see that. When you combine that with the fact he was a big league starter when he was [19] years old, that's a lot of numbers that stack up. Next thing you know, he's a slam dunk first ballot guy.”

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Former Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus agreed, saying he knew Beltré would be a Hall of Famer if he stayed healthy. And even sometimes when he wasn’t healthy, he still played.

“Guys like him, the Hall of Fame is just gonna happen,” Andrus said.

Former Rangers president of baseball operations Jon Daniels was responsible for bringing Beltré to Texas after the club came off an American League pennant in 2010. The front office knew they needed to add an impact bat to supplement one of the best teams in baseball at the time.

The Rangers got all that and more.

“I don't remember the exact moment, but there was some point in time when it went from 'This is a really great player' to 'This is a no-doubt Hall of Famer,'” Daniels said. “I don't remember what happened, but it was instantaneous, right? It was like, there was never a doubt. I think we knew we were confident we're getting a really good player. I don't pretend that we knew the level that he was going to produce. He exceeded expectations across the board.”

As much as his dynamic play on the field, Beltré was also known for his antics, both on and off of it. From time with Andrus throughout games, to pulling the on-deck circle before an ejection and many more.

Beltré, first and foremost, loved the game of baseball. That’s what made him such a leader in the Rangers' clubhouse for so many years.

“Part of me was just trying to have fun, enjoy the game,” Beltré said. “I think that was one of the main reasons why I played for so long and why I got to actually enjoy what I did, understanding this was not a job. It was just a game that we get paid to play. We have so much passion. I love the game. Why not enjoy it? I was trying just to do whatever I could to be happy and enjoy the game.”

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Beltré was a good player before he got to Texas, there’s no doubt about that. He had a pair of Gold Gloves, a Silver Slugger and was coming off a monster year in Boston in which he slashed .321/.365/.553. He came up with the Dodgers in 1998 and also had a five-year pit stop in Seattle from 2005-09.

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But in Texas, he fully became a Hall of Famer.

By the end of his career -- the final eight years of which he spent in Texas -- Beltré compiled five Gold Glove Awards, two Platinum Glove Awards, four All-Star Game selections and four Silver Slugger Awards. He compiled 477 home runs and 3,166 hits (1,277 of those coming with Texas) with four different teams.

His 93.5 bWAR ranks third among third basemen in baseball history behind Mike Schmidt (106.9) and Eddie Mathews (95.9).

“It's easy for this guy,” Young said. “The one thing I loved is that Adrian didn't just show up at 7:00 and punch in, punch out. There are certain teammates that you play with and you love to play with because they really play to win.

“When I played with him, at 7:00, when the first pitch goes and the lights go on, he's not just here. He's here to win. When you have a good team and a guy like that walks in the door, immediately, before the first game is even played, we just got so much better.”

In his eight years in Arlington, Beltré became a franchise legend, hitting .304 with an .865 OPS. He had six top-15 AL MVP finishes, and he was the undisputed leader of the clubhouse during some of the best years in franchise history.

His No. 29 already hangs in Globe Life Field alongside the numbers of Nolan Ryan, Michael Young, Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez and Johnny Oates. Ryan and Rodriguez are both in the Hall of Fame with Rangers caps as well.

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“Adrian Beltré is a Hall of Famer, and I say he's a Hall of Famer because he brings everyone along with him,” said former Rangers manager Ron Washington. “He's one of those players that the rest of the team gravitates to. He shows work ethic. He shows dedication. He shows adjustments. He shows everything that you would like to see in a professional baseball player. Every day.

“He shows up at the ballpark. He never takes a day off. He plays injured. He's a tremendous individual. Was one heck of a baseball player and one heck of a family man. I was very fortunate to be able to manage him.”