That's *Hall of Famer* Carlos Beltrán to You

Carlos Beltrán was elected into the Baseball Hall of Fame last night. 84.2 percent of the ballots had a checkmark next to his name. 

Beltrán was probably the best free agent signing in New York Mets history. After an impressive six and a half years with the Kansas City Royals as their everyday five-tool center fielder, followed by an all-time postseason performance with the Houston Astros in 2004, Carlos signed a seven-year, $119 million contract to play in Queens. It was a major splash by the Mets and their new GM Omar Minaya that caused ripple effects almost immediately: star pitcher Pedro Martinez signed with the Mets just a few weeks later. It turned the team into a contender virtually overnight, taking the awful taste of the Art Howe era out of our mouths. 

Beltrán's first year as a Met was infamously not good. He just put way too much pressure on himself. And even then, his wRC+ was 96, which isn't exactly god awful when you're playing a gold glove caliber center field. But he was paid all that money, and it seemingly was all on his shoulders. 20 years later, as a special assistant to the President of Baseball Operations of the Mets, he would council Juan Soto when he struggled to start his Met career. Soto credited Beltrán's words in greatly helping him turn it all around. 

Beltrán didn't have his future self though, so he had to wait until his sophomore year in New York to turn it around. It helped that Carlos Delgado joined to give Beltrán protection in the lineup. David Wright and José Reyes came into their own too. The Mets ran away with the division, and Beltrán had a lot to do with it. He had a career-high 8.2 bWAR, finished fourth in NL MVP voting, and won a Gold Glove and Silver Slugger award. It was a masterpiece. 

After a meh NLDS in a three-game sweep of the Dodgers, Beltrán hit for a 1.054 OPS in the seven-game NLCS against the Cardinals. We all know how it ended. Down 3-1 in the bottom of the ninth, José Valentín and Endy Chávez hit back-to-back singles to start things off. But then Cliff Floyd struck out against Adam Wainwright, and Reyes lined out to center. Paul Lo Duca walked to load the bases for the team MVP. And then…it happened fast. Strike one, strike two, then a curveball Beltrán never saw coming. Season over to the damn 83-win St. Louis Cardinals. It would be the final postseason at-bat in his Mets career.

Carlos would never live that down. He continued to produce over the next few years, but dammit, why didn't he swing at that pitch? He was the best offensive player on the team most of the time, but Beltrán would take the brunt of the blame from fans. It got so ridiculous that Ted Berg famously came up with the hashtag #blamebeltran. Your car broke down on the highway? Blame Beltrán! Your partner left you? Damn that Carlos Beltrán, and so on and so forth. It was very amusing and kinda sad at the time. 

He got into a public spat with the Wilpons over a knee surgery he felt he needed and the Mets ownership group felt he did not (he did). Still, Beltrán was kind enough to have one final All-Star season in 2011, during the final year of his contract with the Mets. GM Sandy Alderson was able to trade him to the San Francisco Giants for pitching prospect Zack Wheeler. Wheels wouldn't debut in the bigs for another few years, but it was still a steal. 

Beltrán won his only World Series title in 2017 with the Houston Astros, when he was purely their designated hitter. They ceremoniously buried his glove in the Houston outfield, near where he made that spectacular catch climbing up Tal's Hill all those years ago. That's how I choose to remember Carlos - running up that hill, making the catch, coming through in the end. 

Of course, that title is forever tainted, because the Astros cheated in a sign-stealing scandal. Beltrán, because he was retired and was one of the ring leaders of the operation, was the only player named in MLB's findings of the cheating scheme. After more than two months on the job, Beltrán was stripped of the title of manager of the New York Mets. 

That was six years ago. A lot has happened since, including forgiveness apparently from baseball writers. Some folks, mostly Dodger fans, argue that the character clause shouldn't be ignored for a cheater like Beltrán while it's used as an excuse to keep PED users out of the Hall. They have a point - Barry Bonds and ARod should be in the HOF. Maybe they will someday. They might be dead, but maybe someday. 

In the end, I wonder if Beltrán was so scarred from getting fooled on that Wainwright curve in 2006 that in the final year of his professional career he was determined to do anything possible to never be fooled again. But in the process, he fooled all of us. We can and have forgiven, but we won't forget. 

This summer, Beltrán will be inducted into the Mets Hall of Fame, and there's talk the Mets might retire his number. He will probably get another chance at managing a team. He has the respect of his peers. He seemingly has a loving family. Carlos Beltrán won at life. Cooperstown called. It turns out he was a pretty damn good player. Find someone else to blame. 

The Mets acquired CF Luis Robert Jr. from the White Sox for Luisangel Acuña - who was positively raking in Venezuelan winter ball - and 2025 12th round pick RHP Truman Pauley. The Mets will take on all $20 million of Robert Jr.’s 2026 salary. There’s also a $20 million club option for 2027 with a $2 million buyout. We’ll have more on this tomorrow (the news came in pretty late.)

Jon Heyman tweeted that Cody Bellinger is currently deciding between the Yankees, the Mets, and "two other teams". Ken Rosenthal said he expects Bellinger to decide by the end of the week. Oh lord, this again. But considering the Luis Robert Jr. acquisition, it’s doubtful Belli is Queens bound.

The Mets, as well as the Yankees and the Cardinals, are still talking to free agent OF Austin Hays. He might be the pivot move for the Mets if Bellinger goes elsewhere, which would be unfortunate.

David Wright received 14.8 percent of the Hall of Fame vote in the third year on the ballot. It's a steady improvement compared to last year when he only got 8.1 percent. Meanwhile, Daniel Murphy got as many votes as you did: zero. He won't be on the ballot again. 

There's some confusion over whether or not Carlos Beltrán will wear a Mets cap or Royals cap on his Hall of Fame plaque, or if it's even his decision. I'm pretty sure he gets a say but Cooperstown makes the final call. In any event, Beltrán ducked the question of which cap he'd prefer. 

The Mets officially announced the Bo Bichette signing, thank goodness. It appears he'll wear #19, the number Jose Siri wore last season. Bo will be introduced at Citi Field today at 1pm eastern. It’ll air on SNY.

Owners are reportedly furious after the Dodgers' signing of Kyle Tucker and at least annoyed at the Mets signing Bichette to the point where they're "now" 100 percent sure they're going to demand a salary cap, which for the players union has always been a non-starter. Yikes. 

20 years ago today, the Mets traded Kris Benson to the Baltimore Orioles for John Maine and Jorge Julio. Benson was best known as the husband of Anna Benson, who famously said that she would sleep with Kris's teammates if she caught him cheating on her. John Maine meanwhile was infamous for his five-inning outings (so many foul balls) and being called a "habitual liar" by pitching coach Dan Warthen.