Carlos Beltran back with Mets in a front-office role, source confirms
Carlos Beltran talks to the media after being introduced the manager of the Mets during at Citi Field on November 4, 2019. Credit: Getty Images/Rich Schultz
Former Mets star — and manager — Carlos Beltran is coming back to Queens.
Three years after he lost his job before he ever managed a game, the Mets agreed to hire Beltran for a front-office role, a source confirmed Sunday night. His exact duties under general manager Billy Eppler are unclear.
Steve Cohen’s decision to bring Beltran aboard makes reality of a possibility that became apparent in September, when Beltran visited Citi Field for the first time since the Mets dumped him. At that time, Beltran called Cohen’s ownership “a new era” for the Mets and said he was open to working for them (or another team).
“I think this is a new ownership, new mentality. Let’s put it that way. Let’s put it that way,” Beltran told Newsday when he was at the ballpark to celebrate Roberto Clemente Day. “What happened happened. In life, you have to move on. In my case, I’m glad that I’m doing something related to the game, doing a little bit of broadcasting with [the Yankees and YES Network]. It’s good, because I love being around the game, I love being around the players. When you play for a long time, there’s a lot of things you feel like you want to share.”
Beltran had been working for YES, providing color commentary for some Yankees games, but opted to leave that job for a third stint with the Mets. YES had been planning to move Beltran to the studio for pre- and postgame duties, according to the New York Post, which first reported Beltran’s return.
In his first go-around with the Mets, Beltran was perhaps the best free-agent signing in the organization’s history, a standout centerfielder from 2005-11. He hit .280 with an .869 OPS and was an All-Star five times in seven seasons — the marquee stop in his 20-year potential Hall of Fame career.
But shortly after the Mets selected him as manager following the 2019 season, MLB investigated the 2017 Astros for an illegal sign-stealing scheme. Beltran, who was regarded at the time as a highly respected veteran leader of that World Series-winning club, wound up being the only player on that team named in MLB’s report. He was not formally punished by the league, but his reputation was scarred.
In the fallout, the Mets and Beltran “mutually decided to part ways,” the team said then, 77 days after his hiring. A source close to Beltran said that day that he wanted to stay but that the Mets insisted on a breakup.
Although the circumstances of his tenure were bizarre, the Mets indeed list him among the franchise’s former managers, with a 0-0 record, right between Mickey Callaway and Luis Rojas.
Beltran received 46.5% of the vote in Hall of Fame balloting revealed last month, his first time eligible. He’ll have nine more years — if he needs that long — to reach the 75% required for induction.
Now Beltran again is associated with the team with which he had his best seasons.
“First of all, you need to have the interest in order for that to happen,” he said in September. “If it happens, I’d have to be the one making a decision and consider the opportunity and how it is, how it’s going to be. But there’s no doubt that I love the game, I love to be around. Talking baseball is something that I love.”
With David Lennon
Tim Healey is the Mets beat writer for Newsday. Born on Long Island and raised in Connecticut, Tim has previously worked for the South Florida Sun Sentinel, the Boston Globe and MLB.com. He is also the author of “Hometown Hardball,” a book about minor league baseball in the northeast.
