No. 9 – Carlos Beltran
Carlos Beltran is a switch-hitting outfielder who has played 10 of his 19 seasons in NY with both the New York Yankees and Mets.Beltran exploded onto the baseball scene in 1999, receiving the AL Rookie of the Year award as a Kansas City Royal. The accolades have continued throughout his career, as he’s been an All-Star nine times. He’s also won three Gold Gloves and is a member of the 30/30 club, having hit 38 homers and stealing 42 bags for the Royals and Astros combined in 2004.
As good as he’s been in the regular season, Beltran has been even better in the postseason. In 55 games for five teams, Beltran has a .323 batting average. Despite the statistical success, the enduring image of his playoff career will likely be of him staring at Adam Wainwright‘s ridiculous curveball for strike three in Game 7 of the Mets’ NLCS loss to the Cards in 2006.
As a 40-year-old, Beltran will continue to build on his potential Hall of Fame resume in 2017 as a member of the Astros. In 2,457 career games, Beltran has hit 421 home runs, scored 1,521 runs, stole 312 bases and has 1,536 RBIs. These are all numbers worthy of the Hall, but still the one thing that’s missing is a championship.
Beltran is in incredible shape and was an All-Star in 2016, so it’s hard to guess how much longer he’ll continue to play. Here’s hoping that he can keep it going long enough to get himself off this list!
