Mike Piazza
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Former New York Mets catcher Mike Piazza is interested to see if Carlos Beltrán will be able to handle the impending managerial challenges.

In late October, the New York Mets finally concluded their search for a new manager. They ultimately decided to hire Carlos Beltrán, who played centerfield for the organization from 2005-11.

Beltrán is expected to lead this ballclub, who finished 86-76 last season, over the metaphorical hump and into the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

With that goal will come numerous challenges. Will Beltrán, who doesn’t have any managerial experience, be able to handle the adversity of those challenges?

This week, legendary Mets catcher Mike Piazza weighed in on how it’ll be interesting to witness Beltrán’s overall approach to the opportunity.

“The biggest thing I think he’s gonna have to overcome, the challenges of being a first-time manager is learning from your mistakes, because mistakes happen,” he said. “You put a player in, things don’t work out, and you have to recover from it. So you have to be resilient.

“But I played with Carlos. He’s a good guy, he’s got a good heart, he works hard, he was obviously very talented. But I’m curious too because it’s gonna be his first time and I’m going to be interested to see how he does react to those challenges of a first-time manager.”

Piazza and Beltrán played with one another in Queens for the 2005 season. It was Beltrán’s first campaign with the ballclub and Piazza’s last. He then went on to spend time with the San Diego Padres in 2006 and the Oakland Athletics in 2007.

Beltrán will be entering an organization that contains talent within the lineup and rotation. However, it’s also one with a struggling bullpen.

New York’s relievers finished 25th in the majors last year with a 4.95 combined ERA. It’s an issue Beltrán will most certainly need to fix.

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Ryan Honey is a staff writer and host of the Wide Right Podcast.