Puerto Rican outfielder Carlos Beltrán achieved history when he was selected into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 20, becoming the first player drafted out of Puerto Rico to be elected to the Hall of Fame. Beltrán received 84.2% of the votes and passed the required 75% threshold in his fourth year on the ballot.
He is the sixth Puerto Rican player to be voted into the Baseball Hall of Fame, but the other five players were all signed as international free agents. Puerto Rico was put into Major League Baseball’s amateur draft in 1989.
Beltrán was drafted by the Kansas City Royals in the second round of the 1995 MLB Draft out of Fernando Callejo High School in Manati, Puerto Rico.
The primary reason for this change was to control costs and ensure teams had equal access to talent. Unrestricted signings were leading to bidding wars, which were driving up costs for Puerto Rican prospects. MLB’s goal was to align them with U.S. and Canadian amateurs to prevent the big spending teams from dominating the Puerto Rican market. Since Puerto Rico is a U.S. territory, this was an easy change to implement.
Beltrán, 48, was born in Manati, Puerto Rico, and has always embraced his Puerto Rican heritage. He played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic four times in 2006, 2009, 2013, and 2017. Beltrán hit three home runs, collected 14 RBIs, stole four bases, and hit .316 in 95 World Baseball Classic at-bats.
Beltrán will be the general manager for Puerto Rico in the upcoming World Baseball Classic. World Baseball Network spoke with him about this at the Winter Meetings in Orlando last month.
Beltrán is excited for the opportunity to put together the team and is hoping to get a commitment from Los Angeles Dodgers closer Edwin Diaz. Díaz and Beltrán have a close relationship from their time together with the New York Mets.
The Puerto Rican ties for Beltraán also run through Liga de Béisbol Profesional Roberto Clemente. He played there for six winters from 1995-2002, but only got one at-bat in the 1995-1996 season. He didn’t play in the 1996-1997 season. He played his first three seasons with the Lobos de Arecibo before joining the Vaqueros de Bayamón for his final three seasons.
Beltrán won the Roberto Clemente Award in 2013. Bletrán, who idolized Clemente, has noted that it was one of the proudest moments of his career. Beltrán has tried to follow in his footsteps by donating to the island and building an academy. The Carlos Beltrán Baseball Academy opened in August 2011.
He ranks fourth all-time among switch-hitters with 435 home runs. His 1,587 RBIs rank third, and his 312 stolen bases rank seventh among switch-hitters. His finished his career with a .279/.350/.468 slash line in 9,768 at-bats between the Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees, and the Texas Rangers.
He was also a postseason legend with 16 home runs, 42 RBIs, 11 stolen bases, and .307/.412/.609 slash line in 215 postseason at-bats. A postseason OPS of 1.021 is beyond impressive, and it was cemented with a World Series ring in 2017 with the Houston Astros.
That, of course, came with controversy. The 2017 Astros cheating scandal likely played a role in his having to wait four years to get into the Hall of Fame. Regardless, he is one of the greats and is deserving of this prestigious honor. His day in Cooperstown will be very special this summer.
Photo: New York Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran lunges for the ball during the third inning of an MLB baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks, April 22, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, File)
