The New York Mets will need a new manager soon, but Carlos Beltran won't be taking the job.
The New York Mets retired the number of former outfielder Carlos Beltran on Saturday, so naturally the former Mets star was asked about his interest in the Mets’ managerial job, which is about to come open when interim manager Andy Green steps aside at the end of the season.
But Beltran says he has no “current interest” in the job, per an ESPN/AP report, adding that he’s committed to having family time and running his Carlos Beltran Academy in Puerto Rico. He wants to do those things full time, which takes him out of the running.
The former outfielder ignored the elephant in the corner of the room, which is that he’s already had this job once, sort of. The nine-time All-Star was hired as manager after the 2019 season, but Beltran left 76 days later in the fallout from the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal, per the ESPN report.
Beltran was the only Astros player mentioned by name in Major League Baseball's report that concluded Houston broke rules by using electronics to steal signs en route to the 2017 World Series title.
He’d prefer to keep his focus on the accolades he receiver over the weekend at Citi Field as he joined the Mets’ Hall of Fame. He has a job in the front office as an assistant that allows him to do whatever he wants, which is run his academy right now.
Beltran also lauded Green for what he’s done with the Mets, saying that the interim manager has done a “good job,” then later adding on with a comment that Green’s performance was “incredible.”
The former star’s comments about New York were also telling when it came to the possibility of taking the job. Beltran noted that his “skin got thicker” when he came to the Mets, as he struggled during his initial time with the team as a player, so he knows the environment and what comes with it.
He later helped current outfielder Juan Soto make the same kind of adjustment and transition when Soto struggled in his initial months with the team. Beltran is one of the few ex-players with the chops to do that, as he hit .280 with 149 homers, 559 RBIs and 100 stolen bases while winning three Gold Gloves in six-plus seasons for the Mets from 2005 to 2011.
This will be a big hire for the Mets. They underperformed this year after collapsing during the second half of last year, and owner Steve Cohen said over the weekend that the Mets will be adding “new voices” to the front office after GM David Stearns made a series of moves that backfired badly.
