establish myself as one of the [elite] guys in the league consistently,

Carlos Beltran is headed back to Houston, hoping his 20th season in the majors could bring him -- and the Astros -- a most elusive World Series championship.A person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press on Saturday that the free agent slugger and the Astros have reached a one-year deal for $16 million.The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because there was no official announcement. ESPN first reported the agreement.Beltran joins a rich, revamped lineup, with Houston recently adding catcher Brian McCann and outfielder Josh Reddick to a talented, young nucleus.Beltran, who turns 40 in April, hit a combined .295 with 29 home runs and 93 RBI last season. The switch-hitter was traded from the New York Yankees to the Texas Rangers on Aug. 1 and split his time as a designated hitter and right fielder, playing 151 games.A nine-time All-Star, Beltran has often excelled in October. His rise to postseason prominence began in his first playoff game, for Houston in 2004.Acquired from Kansas City that summer, Beltran went on to hit a postseason record-tying eight homers in only 12 games while batting .435 with 14 RBI, along with six steals. The Astros lost in the NL Championship Series to St. Louis that fall. In 2005, Beltran joined the New York Mets, while the Astros wound up getting swept by the White Sox in their only World Series appearance.Beltran made his lone World Series appearance in 2013 with St. Louis, which lost to Boston in six games. Overall, he has hit .323 with 16 homers and 41 RBI in 55 postseason games.Beltran is a career .281 hitter with 421 home runs and 1,536 RBI in 19 seasons with the Royals, Astros, Mets, Giants, Cardinals, Yankees and Rangers. Hes gone to the playoffs with five different teams.Led by middle infielders Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa and ace Dallas Keuchel, the Astros ended a decade-long playoff drought -- and reversed a four-year span in which they averaged well over 100 losses -- by winning the AL wild card in 2015. Expected to be a championship contender this year, Houston instead went 84-78 and missed the playoffs.The Astros have been busy since then, signing Reddick to a $52 million, four-year deal after he finished the season with the Dodgers and getting McCann in a trade with the Yankees. The Astros got $11 million from the Yankees to help cover the $34 million total hes set to make in the next two seasons.Along with his production on the field, Beltran has long been praised for his clubhouse influence and leadership, especially among young teammates. Beltran also runs an academy back home in Puerto Rico, where students focus on academics as well as athletics. Cheap Air Max 270 Australia . 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Now Green and Plumlee are key cogs in the Suns surprising breakout season. INDIANAPOLIS -- Cleveland Cavaliers coach Tyronn Lue said?LeBron James heavy load through the early part of the season had nothing to do with the 14-year veteran sitting out for rest Wednesday.James, 31, came into the night ranked sixth in the league in playing time at 37.0 minutes per game, an uptick from the career-low 35.6 minutes per game he logged last season.At the start of training camp, Lue said he planned to continue to limit James minutes this season but revealed Wednesday that the 12-time All-Star will continue to play in the 36- to 38-minute range for the time being.We wanted to get him low, but he said he wanted to ramp him up early and then kind of tailor him down in January, February, [around] our All-Star break, Lue said after the Cavs 103-93 loss to the Indiana Pacers. So right now he said he wants to be between 36 and 38 minutes a night and then around the All-Star break start tailoring them down. So hes right where he wants to be right now.Lue said the gradual decrease in minutes to get James body prepared for the playoffs was mutually agreed upon by James, his personal trainer Mike Mancias and the coach.James is the oldest player ranked in the top 10 in minutes. But Torontos Kyle Lowry is 30 (No. 1 at 38.6 minutes per game) and Dallas Wesley Matthews is also 30 (tied for No. 4, 37.3 minutes), so James workload is not an absurd number compared to the rest of the league.Lue would not say how many games he planned to rest James this season or provide a definitive plan for how the team will manage him on back-to-backs moving forward.Just have to see, Lue said. Have to see how were playing at the time and how guys minutes are at the time, and just got to gauge it from there.Cleveland beat Toronto at home Tuesday with James posting 28 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds in 38 minutes before he got the night off versus Indiana.Lue had previously circled busy parts of the Cavs schedule --- plenty of three-in-four obligations as well as two five-in-seven stretches -- when he would find rest for James, knowing that the three-time champion will ramp up his minutes in the postseason as he tries for a seventh straight Finals appearance.ddddddddddddDuring training camp, Lue also mentioned a desire to monitor Kyrie Irvings minutes, and thus far the sixth-year guard is playing 34.3 minutes per game, slightly above the 31.5 minutes he played last season while coming off knee surgery.Im just going off what my strength and conditioning coach as well as the team and our medical staff feels is best, Irving said Wednesday. I mean, honestly, I did come off a long summer, a long year, but for me, to establish myself as one of the [elite] guys in the league consistently, I cant use that as an excuse.So whenever my team needs me, whatever my team needs me to do every single night -- whether its play 40 or play 26 minutes -- you see it varies. I mean, the other night I played 26 minutes, didnt even play the fourth quarter. Some nights its going to be like that. When youre on a winning and championship club like this, I just adjust and just do whatever is needed.Irving, 24, said the notion of playing time doesnt carry the same importance to him as it once did.S---, as long as we keep winning, man, Irving said. All the things that used to matter probably four years ago -- getting an average and trying to stay out there and run myself into the ground -- its not necessarily that important anymore. I know that I can be efficient whenever Im in the game. Im a threat any time I step out onto the floor, so I feel like our coaching staff will put us in a great position to be great out there and Ill put myself in a great position. So whatever is needed for my teammates, Im going to do. ' ' '