(Photo: Howard Simmons/News)
While studying the new Mets manager, you can’t help but be struck by some contrasts during his playing career and then a universal trend that threads throughout his career. Here is a player who spent 20 years in the Majors, had mostly great things happen to him, but also was befallen by some bumps, some of which of his own doing.
As an example of the contrasts, how many players make the last out of a stadium’s history (Tiger Stadium, September 27, 1999) and then get the first hit at another (a single on April 4, 2012 at Marlins Park). How many players can be so clutch in the post season as to be given such nicknames as Mr. October, Jr., The New Mr. October and others, only to be remembered in these parts for taking a called third strike against Adam Wainwright with the bases loaded in the 2006 NLCS. And then how many players, who once incensed his owner to the point of calling himself a “schmuck” for signing Beltan, would go on to manage the same team sometime later.
Beltran, 42, also created a few blemishes during his career with the Mets. On January 13, 2010, he had surgery on his knee by his own personal physician, Dr. Richard Steadman, without the Mets consent according to the team. Then, later, he missed a team visit to Walter Reed Army Medical center due to a conflict in his schedule.
All the blemishes will be in the rear view mirror, as on Monday, November 4 at 11:00 AM, Carlos Beltran will be officially introduced as the 22nd manager of the New York Mets. He will be the first Latino manager in franchise history. Beltran will be the fourth current manager born in Puerto Rico, joining Boston’s Alex Cora, Toronto’s Charlie Montoyo and Washington’s Dave Martinez. Beltran will be the ninth person to both play for and manage the Mets, joining Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Bud Harrelson, Roy McMillan, Dallas Green, Bobby Valentine, Willie Randolph (as well as interim manager Mike Cubbage). So why did the Mets hire this man while there may have been some lingering bad blood with ownership? Perhaps, in part due to the one universal theme that trends throughout Beltran’s baseball life: his tremendous baseball acumen.
It’s best left to the experts to describe Beltran’s vast knowledge of the game and potential as a manager:
“He’ll be an amazing manager,” one of Beltrán’s former teammates, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa, told SNY last month. “When he shows up and gets a job with the Mets, I feel like he’s going to change the culture of that clubhouse, he’s going to show the young players how to take care of business, how to study the other teams, how to take every single advantage that you can. He’s going to be a game-changer.”
Keith Henandez told SNY, “Carlos Beltran is one of the great players of his generation. Probably going to be a Hall of Famer, and he’s going to have instant gravitas. I think this team is looking for direction. I really feel like it’s important for a manager to have leadership qualities and lead the team, and this is a young team, particularly, a young team, I feel, that is ready to turn the corner and have someone with strength that they respect and look up to, so in that regard, I feel like this is a good move.”
Ron Darling again on SNY, “His baseball intelligence is through the roof. It always has been, since he was a rookie with the Kansas City Royals. Anyone who’s known him since the day he’s started until the day he ended bragged about that part of his game. So, he’s always had that.”
Perhaps Beltran’s closest friend, Alex Cora, put it best the Mets made a wonderful choice in Beltran The two played together as teammates on the Mets in 2009 and 2010, and later won a championship together with the Houston Astros in 2017. Beltran has leaned heavily on Cora during this process, picking the brain of a man who won a World Series as a first year manager with the Boston Red Sox. He told the NY Post:
“Throughout this process we’ve been talking a lot. Carlos did his homework. He prepared and he is ready to go. The Mets have someone who is going to impact that team in a different way. This guy, he will do an outstanding job.”
Carlos Beltran was born April 24, 1977. He came up in the Kansas City Royal organization, and was such a talent, he skipped Triple-AAA and went right to the Royals in 1998. He made his professional debut on September 14th of that year, and the following season became the Royals’ starting center fielder. He won the American League Rookie-of-the-Year award in 1999. He played for KC until 2004 when he was traded to the Houston Astros. After the 2004 season, he became a free agent.
The Yankees were the heavy favorites to land Beltran following the 2004 season, but declined to give him a contract. Instead, he signed a seven-year, $119 million contract with the crosstown New York Mets. At the time, it was the largest contract in Mets history and the tenth contract to surpass $100 million in MLB history.
For the Mets, he had a successful, but at times injury prone career. He spent 2005-11 as a Met and slashed .279/.366/.499 with 134 home runs and 493 RBI in 741 games over six-plus seasons. He led to the Mets to an NL East crown in 2006, and won his first Golden Glove award that year as well. He also hit 41 home runs that year, a club record that was surpassed by Pete Alonso in 2019.
Beltran, a nine-time All-Star, went to the Mid-Summer Classic four times as a Met. He was named a Silver Slugger in 2006 and 2007. He won three Gold Gloves with the Mets, in 2006, 2007 and 2008. And he is one of only eight Mets to have slugged three home runs in a game doing so in 2011. A prolific base stealer, Beltran still holds the ML record for stolen base percentage (87%) with a minimum of 200 attempts. Beltran stole 100 bases in his time with New York.
During the 2011 season, Beltran waived his no-trade clause and was dealt to the San Francisco Giants for a young righthander named Zack Wheeler. After the season ended, he signed a two-year deal with the St. Louis Cardinals. His first year with the Cards, 2012, turned out to be a prolific one for Beltran as quite a lot happened that season. On June 1, he returned to New York for the first time since being traded by the Mets. He received a standing ovation. During the game, he hit a liner to left off of former team mate Johan Santana that appeared to nick the chalk of the foul line. The ball was called foul and Santana later was credited with the first no-hitter in Mets history.
Two weeks later against another former team in the Royals, Beltran stole second base in the second inning to become the first switch-hitter in MLB history to attain 300 home runs and 300 stolen bases, and the eighth player overall. In late June, against the Pittsburgh Pirates, on consecutive days Beltran stroked his 2000th hit and then hit his 400th double.
The Mets announced on June 18, 2012, that Beltrán was selected as the starting center fielder for 50th Anniversary Mets All-Time Team. June, 2012 was indeed a notable time for Mr. Beltran.
He would return to the playoffs for the first time since 2006 that year, hitting over .400 in the NLDS against the Washington Nationals and over .300 in the NLCS against the Giants in a series they lost. The Cards took the next step in 2013, going to the World Series, only to lose in six games. Beltran injured his ribs in the second inning of game one, as he robbed Davis Ortiz of a grand slam while banging into the wall. He still played all six games of the Fall Classic, collecting five hits and three RBIs.
After the 2013 season, Beltran turned down a qualifying offer from the Cardinals making him a free agent once again. On December 6, 2013 he signed a three-year deal with the Yankees for $45 million. His time with the Yankees was marked by a personal loss along with some injuries and some additional post-season success. His wife suffered a miscarriage on October 16, 2014 and he took an indefinite leave from the team. Two weeks later, Beltran underwent surgery for bone spur removal in his right elbow.
In the 2016 season, Beltran once again reached a number of milestones. On May 15, he hit is 400th career home run against the Chicago White Sox. He was the 54th player in MLB to reach 400 homers and only the fourth switch-hitter to do so. Two weeks later, on May 28, Beltran homered to amass his 2500th hit. He became the fourth player, after Alex Rodriguez, Barry Bonds and Willie Mays, to reach 2,500 hits, 400 homers, 300 stolen bases and 1,000 walks.
On June 7, Beltran collected his 1000th extra-base hit, only the 38th player all-time to have at least that many. Finally, on July 15th, he recorded his 1500th RBI, only the fourth switch-hitter in history and 55th player overall to achieve this feat. At the trade deadline, the Yankees traded Beltran to the Texas Rangers. As a Ranger, he scored his 1500th run. The 39-year old was mostly used as a designated hitter but finished his 19th year in the Majors with a .295 BA, 29 HRs and 93 RBIs in 151 games.
Beltran finally got the brass ring in 2017 as he signed a one-year deal with the Astros, his second stint on the team. He was mostly a part-time DH but added to his post-season legacy by hitting a game winning double in the ALDS against the Red Sox to propel the Astros to victory. He did not get a hit in the 2017 World Series, but his team defeated the Dodgers in seven games giving Beltran his first and only World Series championship as a player.
He retired after the 2017 season . His impressive legacy includes 2,725 hits, 565 doubles, 435 homers, 1,587 RBI and 312 stolen bases with a .279/.350/.486 slash line during his career. As noted, Beltrán saved some of his best performances for the postseason when he hit .307 with 16 home runs and 42 RBI in 65 games. He twice hit four home runs in a single postseason series. Beltran will be eligible to be considered for the Hall of Fame in 2023.
During 2018, he worked for the Yankees. In the Yankees’ front office as an adviser to general manager Brian Cashman, Beltran said he gained a better understanding of how baseball has changed — and will continue to do so — with the analytics-driven trend.
The Mets have made a habit over the recent years in hiring managers with little or no coaching experience (Willie Randolph and Mickey Callaway come to mind). Now with their new manager, they try to strike Alex Cora- type magic once again. In Carlos Beltran, the Mets have a life-long student of the game, sharpened with a year observing a team that is known for front office stability and forward thinking. But this will be his first coaching job at any level. Perhaps this is why he asked Terry Collins to be his bench coach.
As a player, he has credentials that should put him the Hall of Fame. He will inherit a team loaded with strong young players but a weak farm system. He will also inherit a general manager in Brodie Van Wagenen that will want to exert his influence throughout all aspects of the Mets including decisions usually saved for the manager. He will inherit an ownership that is universally loathed by Mets fans for a variety of reasons. He also inherits a team that is in the NL East, home of the World Champion Washington Nationals, the young and athletic Atlanta Braves, who have won the division in 2018 and 2019 and the Philadelphia Phillies who just hired Joe Girardi as their new manager and are bound to improve.
The obstacles are there, but so is the opportunity. If he can translate his baseball know-how to the Mets and turn them into champions, then he will inherit one more thing: a city full of grateful Mets fans waiting impatiently to end a drought since 1986 to win a championship and put the bad taste of losing out of their mouths and minds for the foreseeable future.
