CARLOS BELTRÁN IS HEADED TO COOPERSTOWN.

After becoming eligible for the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2023, Carlos Beltrán finally makes the cut after reaching the required 75% of votes on the ballot. Carlos Beltrán joins Mike Piazza and Tom Seaver in the Hall of Fame as a New York Met. 

While nothing is confirmed yet, it is important to note that Beltrán played seven years each with the Kansas City Royals and the New York Mets and had career years and the most home runs during his time as a Met. His 20 years in the league and seven years representing Queens will not go unnoticed as he is set to join baseball immortality in July.

One of the best five-tool players, with leadership, dedication, and a willingness to improve and always be among the best in the league, this stands as one of the premier accomplishments in baseball. To know you’re great is one thing; to always improve regardless of past accolades is another, and Beltrán has always shown that.

Twenty years in the league. Seven years representing Queens. None of it goes unnoticed. Beltrán now joins baseball immortality, and rightfully so. One of the greatest five-tool players the game has ever seen, Beltrán defined consistency, leadership, and an obsession with improvement. To know you are great is one thing. To constantly strive to be better regardless of accolades is another. Carlos Beltrán always chose the second.

Beltrán enters Cooperstown as the best center fielder the New York Mets have ever seen. Across 2,586 games, he finished with 70 WAR, 2,725 hits, 435 home runs, 1,582 runs scored, 1,587 RBIs, and 312 stolen bases, slashing .279/.350/.486 with an .837 OPS and a 119 OPS+.

Across the history of baseball, only Willie Mays, Andre Dawson, and Barry Bonds have matched the rare combination of 2,500 hits, 400 home runs, and 300 stolen bases. Beltrán belongs in that room. He is also one of only eight players ever to post 1,000 extra-base hits and 300 stolen bases.

His greatness showed early. Beltrán won the 1999 Rookie of the Year Award while putting up 4.7 WAR, 112 runs, 194 hits, 22 home runs, 108 RBIs, and 27 stolen bases. Even then, oddly enough, he graded out slightly below league average by OPS+. From the very start, the numbers never fully captured what he brought to the field. Eight times in his career he drove in over 100 runs, and four times he cleared 30 home runs.

Before the Bernie Madoff scandal handcuffed the Mets financially, ownership made a massive statement in the 2004–2005 offseason by signing Beltrán to a historic seven-year, $119 million deal. At the time, it was the largest contract in franchise history. He instantly became the centerpiece of a dangerous core alongside José Reyes, Carlos Delgado, and David Wright.

As a Met, Beltrán delivered 149 home runs, five All-Star selections, three Gold Gloves, and two Silver Sluggers. His 2006 season remains one of the greatest in franchise history. An MVP-4 finish. 8.2 WAR. 41 home runs. 116 RBIs. A 150 OPS+.

When October came, he got even better. In the 2006 postseason, Beltrán slashed .296/.442/.704 with a 1.146 OPS, five home runs, 10 RBIs, 13 walks, and just six strikeouts.

Yes, people remember the final pitch of Game 7. What they forget is that without Carlos Beltrán, the Mets never sniff that moment.

Across Mets franchise history, Beltrán ranks near the top across nearly every category: third in WAR (31.1), top six in offensive WAR (27.9), top eight in defensive WAR (4.4), top four in OPS (.869), top seven in home runs (149) and RBIs (559), and among the franchise leaders in doubles (7th), total bases (12th, 1,567), and OPS+ (6th, 129).

Carlos Beltrán, a switch-hitting center fielder from Puerto Rico, becomes the sixth player from the island to be elected to the Hall of Fame, joining Roberto Clemente, Orlando Cepeda, Roberto Alomar, Iván Rodríguez, and Edgar Martínez. Spectacular. Excellence. Leadership. Few words fit better.

To Carlos, it has been an absolute honor growing up watching you patrol center field at Shea Stadium and in the early days of Citi Field. You earned this. You always did. Congratulations on one incredible career. Let’s go Mets!