Carlos Beltran
On November 4, 2004, the New York Mets introduced Willie Randolph as the 18th manager in Mets history. In his three plus years on the job, Randolph would have the second best winning percentage in Mets history, and like Davey Johnson, he would be one of only two Mets managers to never have a losing record over a full season.
During Randolph’s tenure, there tends to be a heavy focus on the 2007 collapse and his being fired one game into a trip to the West Coast. Lost in that was Randolph taking the Mets to that level. Sure, adding players like Carlos Delgado were a huge factor. However, Randolph helped develop players like David Wright and Jose Reyes.
People also forget Randolph guided the Mets to a winning record in a season where Doug Mientkiewicz, Miguel Cairo, and Victor Diaz got the most games played at first, second, and right. Randolph did help build a winning culture, and to his credit, he learned to adapt to the team while doing a good job with the bullpen.
No, he was not perfect by any means, but overall, Randolph had done a good job with the Mets. Seeing the jobs Jerry Manuel, Terry Collins, and Mickey Callaway did, you tend to realize Randolph was much better than anyone realized.
Fifteen years later, the Mets are following a pattern a bit in hiring their next manager.
Like Randolph, Carlos Beltran came to the New York Mets directly from the Yankees organization. Like Randolph, Beltran played for both the Mets and the Yankees. Both were multiple time All Stars who won a World Series. Both were looked upon by Mets fans as someone who really wanted to be a Yankee and not a Met.
It was odd for Randolph considering how he grew up a Mets fan. Randolph spoke lovingly about the team even telling everyone his first date with his wife was at Shea Stadium. When Randolph had an opportunity at the end of his career, he came to the Mets.
For Beltran, he actually signed with the Mets. As we know things ended poorly with the Mets, but despite all of that, Beltran came back to the Mets. Like Randolph 15 years ago, Beltran is going to become the Mets manager. He is also going to be entasked with guiding the young careers of players like Pete Alonso and Jeff McNeil.
If in the end of his career as the Mets manager, Beltran never has a losing record, helped his young players take the next step forward, and he takes the Mets to the postseason, we would all agree it was a very successful run. However, that is today. As we know, there is a lot which happens in-between now and then.
While there are many potential pitfalls, the New York Mets hiring Carlos Beltran as the 22nd manager in team history is amazing, and it is cause for celebration.
By and large, it does seem like Mets fans are celebrating. Perhaps, it is because he is replacing an unpopular Mickey Callaway. It could be that after all this time the fans who had a certain level of frustration with him realized they were unfair, and with time having passed, they can better appreciate him. Whatever the case, the fans are excited, and that’s great.
Another factor here is after years where there was a hang up over Beltran wanting to sign with the Yankees in 2005, he made his intentions known he wanted to be a Met. As a result, Beltran only interviewed for the Mets job eschewing opportunities with the Cubs and Padres.
He now becomes the Mets first ever Hispanic manager. For what it’s worth, he was also their first true Hispanic superstar. As such, he is fully aware of what he’s taking on, and to that end, there’s arguably no one better to handle all that is coming his way.
His reward is not just being the Mets manager, but he’s also going to get to manage the Mets when they play in his home of Puerto Rico.
In Beltran, the Mets are getting a savant. As described in the book Astroball, Beltran picked up on things before the analytically driven team could. He also helped bring the team together as one unit. He accomplished that not just by being multilingual but a leader interested in making everyone in that clubhouse comfortable feeling like a member of the team.
With Beltran coming home to the Mets, we can envision how well it worked when other former Mets managed this team.
Gil Hodges engineered the 1969 Miracle Mets. Bobby Valentine was the first Mets manager who led the team to back-to-back postseasons. Most recently, Willie Randolph led the 2006 Mets to within an at-bat of a pennant.
Speaking of that at-bat, Beltran handled that with the class and dignity which has come to define him. He’s overcome both that and injuries to build a Hall of Fame career. He overcame all of that and some hard feelings which existed at the time he was traded for Zack Wheeler to not just want but to get the Mets manager job.
In the end, Beltran is back with the New York Mets where he belongs. After all these years, the fans love him, and he loves this team. He’s now coming home to where everything is possible.
He can guide the Mets to one or more World Series. He can join Tom Seaver and Mike Piazza in the Hall of Fame. His 15 will hang in left field with Casey Stengel‘s 37, Hodges’ 14, Seaver’s 41, Piazza’s 31, and soon Jerry Koosman‘s 36.
In fact, when all is said and done, Beltran could emerge as one of the most beloved figures in Mets history. To be able to even contemplate this is incredible, and it is a reason why Beltran returning to HIS Mets is a dream come true.
With the Washington Nationals defeating the Houston Astros to win the 2019 World Series, the National League East has joined the American League Central as the only divisions in baseball to have had each of their teams win a World Series.
In terms of the AL Central, while all of their teams have won a World Series, not all of them have done it recently. For example, the Cleveland Indians last won in 1948, which was before the Mets or Nationals even came into existence. The Nationals first became a franchise in 1969, and they played their first game against Tom Seaver and the New York Mets. Little did anyone know it at the time, but that 1969 Mets team would win the World Series.
The Mets next World Series title came in 1986. As noted by Mark Simon of Sports Info Solutions, Jesse Orosco would become the last relief pitcher to have an RBI in a World Series game. This would also mark the last time the New York Mets have won a World Series.
Since that time, each of the Mets division rivals have won at least one World Series.
In the strike shortened 1995 season, the Atlanta Braves finally got over the hump when World Series MVP Tom Glavine pitched eight shut out innings allowing just one hit against an absolutely stacked Cleveland Indians lineup. Two years later, Glavine would lose Game 6 of the NLCS to MVP Livan Hernandez and the Florida Marlins.
When Edgar Renteria singled home Craig Counsell in the 11th inning of Game 7, that Marlins team would win their first World Series. Six years later, the Marlins would win their second World Series when Josh Beckett pitched a complete game shutout on three days rest to beat the 2003 New York Yankees in six games.
In 2008, the Philadelphia Phillies would break through and win the second World Series title in team history. Their clincher came when they and the Tampa Bay Rays resumed a rain shortened game the following day. The Phillies returned to the World Series the following year, but they lost in six to the New York Yankees.
That leaves the Mets with the longest drought, which stands at 33 years, as the longest in the division. It is not like the Mets haven’t had their chances.
Everything changed in 1988 with Mike Scioscia‘s grand slam. The 1999 Mets couldn’t pull off the miracle with Armando Benitez and John Franco blowing a save before Kenny Rogers walked in the series winning run. The following year, both Todd Zeile and Mike Piazza would come just short of hitting homers.
The 2006 Mets saw Guillermo Mota shake off Paul Lo Duca, and Carlos Beltran take a wicked Adam Wainwright curveball. There were the ensuing collapses the following years with Glavine getting shellacked by the Marlins in 2007, and Scott Schoeneweis allowing a homer to Wes Helms the ensuing year.
The Mets wouldn’t return to the postseason until 2015. Their World Series hopes were dashed when Daniel Murphy overran a ball, and Lucas Duda thew one away. The following year, Madison Bumgarner proved why he is an all-time great postseason pitcher with his throwing a complete game shutout in the 2016 Wild Card Game.
With Zack Wheeler being a free agent, the Mets offseason was already going to be an interesting one. It is now all the more interesting as you consider all the moves this team will need to make to bring home the team’s first World Series since 1986.
Normally, when you hear the third round is happening in Flushing Meadows, you’re keeping an eye towards the draw Roger Federer and Serena Williams have in the quarterfinals and beyond. However, now, in October, it is in reference to the Mets managerial search.
At times during the search, we have heard many different things. The job was Joe Girardi‘s to turn down, and he was hired by the Philadelphia Phillies. There have been reports the job is going to be given to Tim Bogar, Carlos Beltran, or Eduardo Perez.
So far, the only thing which was been announced is there are going to be more interviews. After the Mets moved swift to hire Mickey Callaway after just one interview, you could certainly understand the Mets due diligence. However, at some point, you do wonder how much of this is due diligence and how much of this is indecision.
We have seen the Mets remove Mike Bell, Skip Schumaker, and Luis Rojas from consideration. That’s is what you expect when you see teams move forward in the interview process. However, while we have seen these names be dropped from consideration, we continue to see new ones emerge.
Syracuse Manager Tony DeFrancesco had an interview, and he may still be a part of the mix. The same can be said about Brewers Bench Coach Pat Murphy. Those are just the names which have recently emerged while we all await the identity of the supposed “bombshell candidate.”
There are rumors that could be Alex Rodriguez or David Wright (both of whom laughed it off), and there is the rumor Brodie Van Wagenen is really waiting to hire his longtime friend AJ Hinch after the World Series ends. This is of course rampant speculation, but that’s what many are left with as the team has been quite deliberate in their process.
Again, there is absolutely nothing wrong with being deliberate in the process. The Mets should take as much time as they need to find out who is the right man for the job. Of course, as time passes and the Mets include more and more people this late in the process, you have to wonder if they believe the group of people they are interviewing really can be that person.
Time will tell if the Mets are interviewing the right people. We will find that out when they make a decision. Actually, when you think about it, the Mets will truly find that out when their next manager begins managing games.
Yesterday, the New York Jets traded Defensive Lineman Leonard Williams to the New York Giants for a 2020 third round draft pick and a conditional 2021 fifth round draft pick. This is a shocking trade between teams who don’t just share a city but a building.
It was a gamble for the Giants in taking on an enigmatic player who is a pending free agent. For the Jets, this was seen as a coup to get a good return for a player they were not re-signing. However, if the Giants are able to get Williams to play like someone who was once the third overall pick in the draft, the Jets will constantly be reminded of their failure.
At the end of the day, who cares? Both the Giants and Jets did what they thought was best for their franchises. They put the fears aside, and they made a football trade just like they would’ve done with any other team. Somehow, this concept eludes the Mets.
Back in 2017, the New York Yankees were rumored to have interest in Lucas Duda. However, rather than trading Duda to the Yankees, the Mets opted to trade him to the Tampa Bay Rays for Drew Smith. There were rumors the Yankees could’ve bested the offer of what was just one relief prospect, but there was no real confirmation of what that return would be.
The Yankees were also to have been interested in Neil Walker. The Mets eventually wound up trading him to the Milwaukee Brewers for Eric Hanhold, a player the Mets recently designated for assignment so they could keep pitchers like Drew Gagnon, Donnie Hart, and Chris Mazza. In terms of the Yankees, we are not sure what they would offer, and there are some rumors the Yankees backed out of their deal because of Walker’s medicals.
Finally, there was Jay Bruce. The Yankees were reported to offer multiple prospects for him. Instead, the Mets moved him to the Cleveland Indians for Ryder Ryan, a converted reliever.
Over the past few years, the Yankees have been rumored interested in a number of Mets players like Jacob deGrom, Noah Syndergaard, and Zack Wheeler. Those trades never materialized, but then again, no trade ever materialized between the Mets and another team with those players.
Still, the point remains there has long been a hesitation between the Mets and Yankees to make a trade. While it does seem to mostly come from the Mets side, there is assuredly some hesitation from the Yankees as well. That may be in no small part due to their Pedro Feliciano experience, or inexperience as it proved to be, and they may also harbor the same issues which are imputed on the Mets.
Whomever is to blame, they need to get over themselves, and they need to make smart trades between themselves to benefit both teams.
The Yankees have seen former Mets like Carlos Beltran, David Cone, and Darryl Strawberry play well for them. The Mets have seen former Yankees like Curtis Granderson, Orlando Hernandez, and Al Leiter play well for them. This is of little surprise as good players who can handle New York can play well for either team.
Given how that is the case, perhaps it is time both teams benefit from these players switching teams rather than seeing other franchises serve as the beneficiaries of being the ones who get these players in-between stops.
The Philadelphia Phillies did what we expected and hired Joe Girardi to replace Gabe Kapler. To their credit, the Phillies knew they wanted, nay needed, an experienced manager like Girardi, Buck Showalter, or Dusty Baker to take their team to the next level. They honed their search, and they hired who they deemed to be the best candidate.
What is interesting is Girardi was the one candidate the Phillies and New York Mets had in common. In 2017, that person was Mickey Callaway. That led the Mets to hire Callaway after just one interview to keep him away from the Phillies. The following offseason, the Mets would admit to including Jarred Kelenic in the Robinson Cano deal to keep Edwin Diaz away from the Phillies.
However, when it came to Girardi, the Mets didn’t rise to the occasion. Rather, they let Girardi go to the Phillies leaving them with a group of managerial candidates without Major League managerial experience. Looking at it that way, you could say this was a managerial search which was Girardi or bust, and with Girardi going to the Phillies, the Mets search went bust.
While the Mets do deserve scorn for how they operate the team, the manager search did not go bust. In fact, there are a very intriguing candidates remaining.
Tim Bogar is a well respected coach and a three time Minor League Manager of the Year. He has experience as a first base, third base, and bench coach. He has spent time in the front office on the player development side. Also, in 2014, he took over as interim manager of the Texas Rangers after Ron Washington resigned due to personal issues. Bogar would led the Rangers to a 14-8 record in those game.
With his work on Baseball Tonight, MLB Radio, and other media ventures, Eduardo Perez is a media savvy individual, which is something all managers, especially the Mets manager need. That said, Perez is much more than that having been a minor league and Winter League manager as well as a former Major League bench coach. With his working on the “Nerdcasts,” we are well aware he is well versed in analytics.
Another interesting factor with Perez is the Mets seem to want to keep some of their current coaches on the Major League coaching staff. To that end, Perez is a former teammate of both Chili Davis (hitting coach) and Gary Disarcina (third base and infield coach).
On that point, Luis Rojas has worked extensively with Phil Regan both this year’s team as well as the minors. Speaking of the minors, Rojas has managed most of this current Mets team including Pete Alonso, Jacob deGrom, Jeff McNeil, Brandon Nimmo, and others. They speak highly of him, and the team thinks so highly of him they created the Quality Control position for him. In that position, Rojas was entasked with handling communications between the front office and players on expectations and how to utilize data. To that end, there is perhaps no one better prepared to understand what the front office expects and wants from their manager.
In terms of relationship with the front office, perhaps no one would have a better relationship than Carlos Beltran. Beltran is close with both Assistant General Managers Allard Baird and Omar Minaya. There’s also his close relationship with David Wright which began in Beltran’s first Spring Training with the Mets when he took Wright and Jose Reyes under his wing to show them how to prepare for the season.
Sure, he has had his clashes with ownership, especially when he opted to have knee surgery prior to the 2010 season. However, that does speak to an asset Beltran has. Over the years, the Mets have been criticized for their handling of injuries. Who better than Beltran to help protect the players from themselves and the team?
Finally, there is Twins Coach Derek Shelton. He has a wealth of experience including his being a hitting, quality control, and hitting coach. In those roles, he has worked for analytically forward organizations while also working for different types of managers like Joe Maddon, Eric Wedge, John Gibbons, and Rocco Baldelli.
Overall, you could make the case any one of these five candidates would make an excellent manager for the Mets. While you are free to question the wisdom of the Mets exiting the Mickey Callaway era by going to another first time manager, especially when Girardi apparently wanted the Mets job, that does not mean these candidates could not be better than Callaway. In fact, it’s very possible each one of these candidates could ultimately prove to be better than even Girardi.
On July 20, 2018, Yoenis Cespedes serves as the Mets DH in a game against the Yankees. Despite not having played in a Major League game in over two months, he homered.
Roughly two weeks later, Cespedes underwent the first of two surgeries required to not just remove calcifications, but to also save his career.
This was a surgery necessary because he was in so much pain/discomfort he actually had to alter the way he ran in order to play. In essence, Cespedes did what he could do to keep playing even if it arguably led to other injuries.
Seeing what he went through just to play, you could not question his heart, drive, or commitment. That is unless you work for SNY, which is owned by the Wilpons.
Carlos Beltran has been a mentor to many challenging players over the years, and one person who knows him well suggests he’s the guy to motivate the quixotic Yoenis Cespedes from the ranch to the batters box
— Andy Martino (@martinonyc) October 19, 2019
Imagine covering Cespedes and learning of all he went through and still finding a way to say the Mets need to hire Carlos Beltran to motivate Cespedes to play baseball again.
It’s purposely oblivious to overlook Cespedes’ double heel injury and his subsequent broken ankle to say the needed motivation to play the game. After all, it’s not like we have seen Cespedes play through excruciating pain and just find ways to get onto the field.
No, his only problem was motivation.
Andy Martino just called a player who needed double heel surgery and suffered a broken ankle lazy. A Hispanic player at that. Given what he just said, it’s surprising he didn’t go further by invoking other negative stereotypes.
What Andy Martino said about Yoenis Cespedes was wrong. Plain wrong. And he owes Cespedes an apology.
The Mets have interviewed Carlos Beltran and Tim Bogar for their manager job. If either one gets the job, they will become the 10th former Mets player to manage the team. Can you name the nine who have done it? Good luck!
Gil Hodges Yogi Berra Roy McMillan Joe Torre Bud Harrelson Mike Cubbage Dallas Green Bobby Valentine Willie Randolph
What is interesting about the Mets current managerial search is they have cast a wide net. With the caveat these are only the interviews we know, they have interviewed people from all different sorts of fields.
Joe Girardi is the former manager. Derek Shelton is the hot bench coach candidate. Luis Rojas is the internal candidate. Carlos Beltran is the former player. Mike Bell is the player development person. Eduardo Perez is the television analyst.
In essence, the Mets have gone ahead, and they have made sure to interview at least one candidate from each different field. Again with the caveat, it’s only what we know, it is interesting to see they have not interviewed multiple people from each field. If they were, they could consider giving Jessica Mendoza an interview.
Like Perez, Mendoza has been a television analyst. While there are criticisms of her work on Sunday Night Baseball, she was considered a strong analyst on Baseball Tonight. Like Rojas, Mendoza is an internal candidate as she has served as a special advisor to Brodie Van Wagenen this season. In that job, she has partially focused on player development, which is the role Bell currently serves with the Diamondbacks. Finally, as a 2004 Gold Medalist, she is a former player.
What Mendoza doesn’t have is prior managerial experience. However, looking at the Mets current list of candidates, that doesn’t appear to be an issue for them at all.
While Mendoza doesn’t have managerial experience, her role with Sunday Night Baseball does give her some special insight. As noted in the USA Today article on the Mets hiring her, “Before nationally televised games, managers routinely give private briefings to the network broadcasters, and some might be more reticent to disclose information to an employee of an opponent.”
It should be noted Aaron Boone, who once worked alongside Mendoza in the Sunday Night booth, used that position as a springboard to taking the Yankees job. Like Mendoza, he likely benefited from the broadcasting experience, which included those meetings. Of course, Boone was also a longtime player and a member of the well known Boone family.
Another factor to consider about Mendoza is what the Mets said about her when she was hired. Brodie Van Wagenen said of the fellow Stanford alum, “Jessica has a very high baseball IQ. She has aptitude to learn anything, and she knows the game.” (Anthony DiComo, MLB.com).
Those are all attributes you would want from your manager. Certainly, those are attributes which should at least get someone an interview, especially when that person has similar experience to the other known candidates. It also helps she has a relationship with the GM and ownership in addition to working with them for a year.
Overall, we don’t know if she’d be interested, but if she was, it may very well make sense for the Mets to give Jessica Mendoza an interview for their managerial position.
After Carlos Beltran had his epic 2004 ALCS for the Houston Astros, he was a free agent. As a player who grew up idolizing fellow Puerto Rican Bernie Williams, Beltran had longed to wear the pinstripes. Partially due to Williams’ presence, the Yankees never seriously pursued him.
Omar Minaya and the Mets did, and it would lead to Beltran signing a seven year $119 million deal with the team. As a result, Beltran would wear pinstripes in New York. It was just a different color and borough than he dreamed.
This was the first of a series of things a certain portion of Mets fans found to be unforgivable.
Other factors were his first year struggles. The strikeout against Adam Wainwright. The knee surgery. There’s more including the collapses.
Beltran would eventually get his wish sighing with the Yankees after the 2013 season. He’d return to Houston in 2017, and in his final season, the future Hall of Famer retired with a ring.
After his retirement, he’d interview for the managerial position left vacant when the Yankees opted to not renew Joe Girardi‘s contract. When he didn’t get it, he’d join the Yankees as a Special Advisor to Brian Cashman.
Now, Beltran is looking to do what his former manager, Willie Randolph, did. He wants to leave the Yankees to become the Mets manager. For some Mets fans, despite his growing up a Mets fan and his playing a year with the team, there was a contingent who saw Randolph as a Yankee, and they never wanted him or gave him a chance.
But Beltran? Well, he is a Met. If he has his druthers, he’ll be a Met again.
According to reports, Beltran doesn’t just want to be a manager. He wants to be the Mets manager. Suddenly, the guy who wanted to be a Yankee wants to leave that franchise to be a Met.
With that, hopefully those who couldn’t forgive Beltran for wanting to be a Yankee can now forgive him for wanting to be a Met. Also, if Beltran does the same thing with the Mets he did when he returned to Houston, perhaps those who can’t forgive the strikeout can find it in their hearts to forgive him.
No matter what the case, we see Beltran once again wants to be a Met. It nothing else, it will be great to see once of the greatest players in Mets history return home. Hopefully, this will lead to Beltran following in Tom Seaver‘s and Mike Piazza‘s footsteps in wearing a Mets cap on his Hall of Fame plaque.
If that happens, well, even if he returns to the Yankees, Beltran will forever be a Met.