The Mets, masters of maximizing media coverage announced – at 7:44pm on a Friday night, so that they could what…get in the Saturday newspapers? Even when newspapers were a thing, Friday night was when you took out the trash….. – announced that Inexperienced Carlos Beltran (aka ICB) would be the next manager for some reason.
There is seemingly no reason why they hired ICB, but they have. Presumably he is better at not knowing how to manage than Mickey Hodges Callaway was.
Much thanks to @mediagoon for ringing the batphone to tell me the Mets announced a manager at 7:44pm on a Friday night because it never occurred to me that someone would do that. I am particularly confounded by this piece of the story.
I’m slightly annoyed at the Mets as I was enjoying my video games (The Outer Worlds) and had to come upstairs to blog.
I also think Jeff Wilpon’s quote is silly. We are not thrilled. At best we are giving this the Seinfeldian ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. Except the comedians. They love Beltran. They should be back from their tour in 3..2….
CARLOS BELTRÁN NAMED METS MANAGER
FLUSHING, N.Y., November 1, 2019 – The New York Mets today announced that they have named Carlos Beltrán the 22nd manager in team history, agreeing to terms on a three-year contract with a club option for a fourth year.
Beltrán, 42, has spent the past year as a special advisor for the New York Yankees. He last played in the majors in 2017, winning the World Series with the Houston Astros. During his 20-year major league career, he was a nine-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove Award winner, two-time Silver Slugger Award winner and was named the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year.
Beltrán played with the Mets from 2005-2011. He ranks sixth on the club’s all-time list in the following categories: home runs (149), RBI (559), extra-base hits (374), on-base percentage (.369) and slugging percentage (.500).
“Congratulations to Carlos. We are thrilled, as we know our passionate fans will be, to have him back in the family,” said Mets COO Jeff Wilpon. “Thanks to Brodie and the entire baseball operations staff on this expansive, diverse and collaborative managerial search process.”
Beltrán will be the ninth person to both play for and manage the Mets, joining Gil Hodges, Yogi Berra, Joe Torre, Bud Harrelson, Roy McMillan, Dallas Green, Bobby Valentine, Willie Randolph (as well as interim manager Mike Cubbage).
“Thanks to Jeff and the ownership group for their ongoing support as we worked through a very detailed managerial search process,” said Mets Executive Vice President and General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen. “We are very excited to bring Carlos on board as our next manager and re-introduce him to Mets fans next week.”
Beltrán was the fifth player in major league history to hit 400 homers and steal 300 bases. He had 2,725 hits, 565 doubles, 435 homers, 1,587 RBI and 312 stolen bases with a .279/.350/.486 slash line during his career. Beltrán played for Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic in 2006, 2009, 2013 and 2017.
