Carlos Beltran Announces Retirement After 20 Seasons
ORLANDO, Fla. (CBSNewYork/AP) -- Carlos Beltran is retiring at age 40 after winning his first World Series title in his 20th major league season.
The Puerto Rican outfielder made the announcement Monday, 12 days after the Houston Astros beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 7 of the World Series.
Beltran, 40, is a nine-time All-Star who won the 1999 AL Rookie of the Year award and three Gold Gloves.
His production dropped dramatically this year, as he batted .231 with 14 homers and 51 RBIs. With the Yankees and Rangers in 2016, he hit .295 with 29 homers and 93 RBIs.
He finishes with a .279 average, 435 homers, 1,587 RBIs and 312 stolen bases -- numbers that could land him in the Hall of Fame. He also has played for the Royals, Mets, Giants and Cardinals.
In an article for The Players Tribune, Beltran credited golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez for giving him advice that he used throughout his career: "You have to surround yourself with successful people. You can't be afraid to ask questions to those people that you look up to."
Beltran said he leaned on players such as Barry Bonds, Bernie Williams, Jeff Bagwell, Alex Rodriguez and Derek Jeter for pointers on how to become a better player.
"I remember when I was with the Yankees, I saw a lot of Reggie Jackson," Beltran wrote. "It was later in my career, so one day I asked him, 'Reggie, when you got older, what kind of adjustments did you make to allow you to play longer?' We talked, he gave me some tips, and then I saw him at spring training the next year and I yelled to him, 'Hey, Reggie … thank you!'"
Beltran played for the Mets from 2005-11. He wrote that he was initially torn about whether to accept a trade to the Giants.
"The Giants were in the playoff race, and when the moment came to accept the trade or to exercise my no-trade clause, it was a difficult decision," Beltran wrote. "I had bought my first home in New York. I had my three-year-old daughter, Ivana, and my wife, Jessica, was eight months pregnant with our second child, Kiara. New York had become — and still is — my home. So for me, it was a difficult choice.
"But before I could tell Jessica how I was feeling, I remember she had already started packing a suitcase.
"She said, 'The Giants are winning. And if they want you and need you, we need to try catch a flight today.'"
Beltran, who played for the Yankees from 2014-16, said his desire to win a world championship led him to sign with Houston before this past season.
"When I got the opportunity to go back to Houston and play with a team like the Astros, I could not pass it up," he wrote. "I was entering my 20th professional season, and I still had not experienced winning a World Series. I had come so close in 2013 when I was in St. Louis, but we could not finish the job. And in 2006 with the Mets. And, of course, in 2004 with the Astros.
"This last season … I have to tell you, it was amazing. Coming in, I knew this was a special team that had a chance to win a World Series. I didn't know what my role was going to be. I just remember I told (manager) A.J. Hinch to put my locker next to the young guys because I wanted to help them out in any way I could — just be there for them, you know?"
Beltran told MLB.com that he would love to manage a team someday.
(© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
