Beltrán has said he never dreamed of becoming a manager when he was younger, but when the job was offered he felt a responsibility, as a former player from Puerto Rico, to take it, do well and make it easier for others to do so. It has been reported that Manager Buck Showalter, who was the National League manager of the year in 2022 in his first season with the Mets, had considered adding Beltrán to his coaching staff for that year, but Beltrán chose to remain as a commentator with the YES Network.
In his seven years as a Met, Beltrán put up sensational numbers. He had an .869 on-base plus slugging percentage, 149 home runs, 208 doubles and 100 stolen bases. He put up 31.1 wins above replacement for the Mets, according to Baseball Reference, which placed him seventh in Mets history overall and third among Mets position players, trailing only David Wright and Darryl Strawberry.
He made five All-Star teams as a Met and came in fourth in N.L. Most Valuable Player Award voting in 2006, a year in which the Mets made the National League Championship Series. Many Mets fans remember Beltrán striking out looking at a nasty curveball from Adam Wainwright of the St. Louis Cardinals to end Game 7 of that series instead of his many other accomplishments with the team.
In 2011, the Mets traded Beltrán to the San Francisco Giants for Zack Wheeler, a pitching prospect at the time. Beltrán, who came up with the Kansas City Royals, played six more seasons, spending time with the Cardinals, the Yankees, the Rangers and the Astros.
In 20 years, Beltrán amassed 435 home runs, a .279/.350/.486 slash line and was regarded as an exceptional center fielder. His overall numbers are close to those of Scott Rolen, but Rolen was the only player elected into this year’s class for the Hall of Fame. Rolen received 76.3 percent of the vote, while Beltrán’s 46.5 percent placed him behind Todd Helton, Billy Wagner, Andruw Jones and Gary Sheffield, all of whom had over 50 percent.
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