Brown: Beltran Was Right Hire Over Remaining Options For Mets

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Reports: Mets To Name Carlos Beltran As Next Manager

Thirteen years later, there’s no curveball this time around coming to Carlos Beltran.

The long-awaited search is finally over. The Mets will finally name their manager.

The Mets have reportedly decided to go the former popular player route as manager. Beltran will become a manager for the first time in his career. He was a candidate for the Yankees managerial job in 2018, but lost out to Aaron Boone. Beltran has been a special adviser to Yankees GM Brian Cashman the past two years. Now, he returns to the team where he had some of the best years of his big-league career and the team where he may choose to don the cap of when his statue is in the Baseball Hall of Fame one day.

It’s a chance at redemption for Beltran.

Many fans remember his 2006 season-ending strikeout in Game 7 of the NLCS with the bases loaded. It still haunts some Mets fans dreams. With that being said, Beltran was loved in Queens. He played the game hard, always faced the media and was a terrific baseball player. He played almost seven seasons with the Mets, hit .280 with 149 home runs, 559 RBIs and stole 100 bases. He won two Gold Gloves, two Silver Sluggers and made four All Star teams before the Mets traded him to the Giants for Zack Wheeler in 2011.

Out of the remaining options with Joe Girardi going to the Phillies and Buck Showalter not a candidate, Beltran is the right choice. It came down to him and Eduardo Perez and Beltran is just the right fit. No Mets fan would be satisfied if they went with Tim Bogar or Derek Shelton. The Beltran hire at least instills some sort of excitement into Mets fans as someone they remember fondly (outside of one at bat). It’s somewhat of a puppet hire, but a puppet you can live with.

Carlos BeltranUSA TODAY Images

Beltran, who becomes the first Latino Mets manager as a former player, had a great career and will relate well with a lot of the players. He will be terrific for the Latino Mets players, such as Amed Rosario, Wilson Ramos, Robinson Cano, Jeurys Familia and if he’s back, Edwin Diaz. This is a guy who played against almost all of them as he’s just a few years removed from his final season playing in 2017 with the Astros.

We now will find out whether he can manage or not. It’s just too premature to say whether this is a good or bad move. Beltran has experience in New York has handled the media well here as both a member of the Mets and Yankees. He certainly checks the boxes that the other candidates left did not. Rookie managers like Alex Cora and Dave Martinez have had success. Cora won a World Series in his first year as manager with the Red Sox. Martinez just won the title in his second year. Both had better teams, but with some more pieces, Beltran’s Mets team is not far away.

Carlos Beltran about to manage, play center field and bat 5th in the Mets lineup in 2020.

— Jake Brown (@JakeBrownRadio) November 1, 2019

We also need to see what pieces Brodie Van Wagenen and the Wilpons do give him. There is work that needs to be done to the bullpen, the starting rotation and they could also use a true center fielder and some offensive depth. With an improved roster, Beltran can make it work out and lead the Mets to the promised land here.

One issue is the report that Terry Collins is going to be his bench coach.

The Mets need to make sure Collins isn’t in Beltran’s ear with decision-making too much. While many fans love Collins, his in-game managing was a disaster for the most part in his decade here. The Mets need to rely on Beltran to make key decisions and not have Collins whispering in his ear. It’s good to have a veteran like Collins on board, but he can’t be the “co-manager” so to speak. The key for Beltran is trusting players and not over-managing this team. They had plenty of that with Mickey Callaway and it failed miserably. There is talent on this roster and Beltran will need to avoid the non-stop double switches and bullpen over-usage if he wants to have success here.

Let the Carlos Beltran era begin … and let us hope it lasts longer than the Callaway one.

You can follow Jake on Twitter @JakeBrownRadio