New York Mets to retire Carlos Beltran’s No. 15

Carlos Beltran can add another honor to his calendar alongside his Hall of Fame induction later this summer. Mike Puma at the Post reports the team will retire the former star outfielder’s No. 15 on May 30 ahead of the team’s game versus the Miami Marlins.

Beltran debuted with the Kansas City Royals in 1998 and was named American League Rookie of the Year the following season. He signed a seven-year, $119 million deal in 2005, almost Juan Soto-esque. Not only was Beltran’s deal the largest in Mets history at the time, but they beat out the rival Yankees for the star switch-hitter’s services.

Beltran never won a World Series with the Mets, but made five All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves in center field before being traded to the Giants in 2011. In return, the Mets received Zack Wheeler. Beltran also played for the Cardinals, Yankees, Rangers, and had two separate stints with the Houston Astros. He was the designated hitter on the controversial “Trashcan-gate” team that won the 2017 World Series. That connection and ensuing scandal led him to resigning as the Mets’ manager only two months later before spring training had even begun.

But on the whole, Carlos Beltran was a Hall of Fame player worthy of having his number retired. It’s just tough because he was a true journeyman throughout his career in a sport that values consistency above everything. He played long enough to maintain a .279 lifetime batting average with 2,725 hits and 435 home runs. That puts his career WAR at a clean 70.0.

So how do the Mets factor into this when they’re just a slice of Beltran’s long and storied career? Well, the reasons are twofold. On one hand, Beltran played some of the best baseball of his career in Flushing. His 41 home runs and 116 RBI in 2006 were career highs. He only finished fourth because the NL was stacked with hitting that year, with Ryan Howard’s 58 homers carrying him to first place.

But more importantly, Beltran’s Mets tenure is a textbook example of how quickly we forgot just how good the guy was in his prime. His production tailed off a bit after his career season in ’06, but not to the point of full decline. He just overachieved and regressed to his mean. It happens to players annually.

However, things changed in 2009 and ’10 when Carlos Beltran missed significant time with knee injuries. He even missed the first half of 2010 after having surgery, leading to some drama with the front office. A move to right field further signaled his aging and imminent decline.

Instead, he bounced back to hit .300 with the Mets and Giants in 2011, and played six more years.

Thus, if the Mets want to make their fans happy and give a retired player his day? Let them. It’s Carlos Beltran. Like him or not, he’s a Hall of Fame player and one of the last great switch-hitters.

Raise No. 15, and raise it high.