(Updated Dec. 20, 2024)
Soon to be 35, Carlos Beltran wanted to play outfield, not be a designated hitter, for a contender. A free agent, he had multiple offers, but only one provided precisely what he sought.
On Dec. 23, 2011, Beltran signed a two-year contract worth $26 million to be the Cardinals’ right fielder.
A switch-hitter with power, Beltran was an important acquisition for the reigning World Series champions, who were looking to reload after the departure of first baseman Albert Pujols.
Still a factor
Beltran began the 2011 season with the Mets and was traded to the Giants in July for pitching prospect Zack Wheeler.
“By trading for Beltran, the Giants picked up their most prominent hitter since Barry Bonds,” the San Francisco Examiner declared.
Late in the season, Beltran switched agents, dropping Scott Boras and going with Dan Lozano, who also represented Albert Pujols.
Beltran’s final totals for the year were impressive: .300 batting average, 39 doubles, 22 home runs and 84 RBI. His on-base percentage was .385.
Granted free agency in October 2011, Beltran received offers from four American League clubs: Blue Jays, Indians, Rays and Red Sox, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
When Pujols, also a free agent, signed with the Angels, the Cardinals joined in the bidding for Beltran.
With Pujols gone and outfielder Allen Craig unavailable until May 2012 because of knee surgery, the Cardinals needed an run producer. They envisioned Beltran joining an outfield with Matt Holliday in left and Jon Jay in center. Lance Berkman, who played right field in 2011, would shift to the first base spot Pujols vacated.
Complete player
Beltran had knee surgery in January 2010, and though he thought his performance for the Mets and Giants in 2011 showed he was agile enough to play the outfield, the American League clubs pursuing him wanted to split his time between being a designated hitter and an outfielder.
Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe wrote, “From a pure hitting point of view, Beltran would be perfect, but scouts question his ability to patrol right field.”
The Cardinals didn’t share those concerns. They were quite familiar with Beltran. In two playoff appearances, 2004 with the Astros and 2006 with the Mets, Beltran excelled against the Cardinals.
In the 2004 National League Championship Series, Beltran batted .417, hit four home runs and scored 12 runs in seven games. His on-base percentage for the series was .563.
In the 2006 National League Championship Series, Beltran batted .296, hit three home runs and scored eight runs in seven games. His on-base percentage for the series was .387. His strikeout with the bases loaded and two outs in the ninth inning of Game 7, however, overshadowed his overall production.
Cardinals general manager John Mozeliak told the Post-Dispatch that Beltran “was on top” of the list of free agents the club wanted to sign in December 2011.
“One of the exercises we were doing at the winter meetings was definitely looking at what the world might look like if we weren’t able to keep Albert,” Mozeliak said to MLB.com. “So … we had a pretty good idea of what we were going to do and how we were going to do it. Didn’t actually know if we could pull it off.”
In an interview that appeared in the Post-Dispatch on Christmas Day 2011, Beltran explained to Derrick Goold why he signed with St. Louis: “I’m looking for an opportunity to win a championship … I believe the Cardinals are a club that can do it again.”
Also in the Cardinals’ favor was their willingness to let Beltran, a three-time Gold Glove Award winner, play in the outfield. Beltran told the Post-Dispatch, “I want to play in the field at this stage of my career. I feel I can still make a difference in the field.”
Right move
Beltran’s signing by the Cardinals generally was well-received.
“By adding Beltran, you get a player who is confident in the postseason and is going to (impact) the lineup,” Matt Holliday told the Post-Dispatch.
Columnist Bernie Miklasz called it “an aggressive, smart move by the Cardinals. They successfully recruited one of the top five position players available.”
According to Richard Justice of MLB.com, “The Cards may have gotten a player who is an absolutely perfect fit for the situation they find themselves in … From the moment Pujols signed with the Angels, Beltran was the single guy who made the most sense.”
Hard feelings
Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina, though, had a different view. He developed a dislike for Beltran as an opponent because of how Beltran battered Cardinals pitching. “I hated him, honest,” Molina recalled to Stan McNeal of Cardinals Yearbook in 2019.
At 2012 spring training, Beltran could tell Molina wasn’t fond of him. At Beltran’s suggestion, manager Mike Matheny and coach Jose Oquendo arranged a meeting with the two players. According to Beltran, when he told Molina he was the same person as a Cardinal that he’d been as an opponent, Molina unhappily replied, “OK then, there is nothing else to talk about.”
“You could sense a little anger with the way he was raising his voice,” Beltran recalled to Stan McNeal.
It took a while for the relationship to improve. Over time, Molina saw Beltran had a positive impact on the team. One day, during the second half of the 2012 season, Molina sat beside Beltran on a team flight. Beltran recalled to McNeal, “He said to me, ‘Hey, man, I have to say I apologize … You are a good man. I respect you. I have treated you wrong.’ “
Molina said to McNeal, “I asked him to forgive me because I wasn’t a good person to him. I told him he was one of the best professionals I have ever met, and I apologized.”
Big bopper
Beltran, who turned 35 in April 2012, had 32 home runs and 97 RBI for the 2012 Cardinals. Primarily batting in the No. 2 spot in the order, he followed that with 24 home runs and 84 RBI in 2013 when the Cardinals won the National League championship. Video Beltran had a .400 on-base percentage in the 2013 World Series versus the Red Sox.
Beltran had more hits, home runs and RBI in his two seasons with the Cardinals than Pujols did in his first two seasons with the Angels. The Cardinals reached the playoffs, including a World Series, in those two seasons and the Angels did not.
After the 2013 World Series, Beltran became a free agent and signed with the Yankees. After a brief stint with the 2016 Rangers, Beltran, 40, finished his playing career with a World Series championship as a member of the 2017 Astros.
He was the first player to have four consecutive seasons of 20 or more home runs, 100 or more runs scored, 100 or more RBI and 30 or more stolen bases. Beltran did it from 2001 through 2004.
For his career, Beltran totaled 2,725 hits, 435 home runs, 1,587 RBI and 312 stolen bases.
RetroSimba 
Here where things get tricky and lowered the bar for the HOF. If Harold Baines gets in then so does Beltran…end of story. Beltran had a higher career OPS, had 2,725 hits to Baines’ 2.866. Beltran was also more valuable because he played defense, something Baines only did in his waking dreams. (and apparently, defense doesn’t matter anymore because voters are slobbering over known juicer David Ortiz in his first year of eligibility) He also made 9 AS teams to Baines’ 6. The only caveat being: did Beltran play for Tony LaRussa? and did he properly kiss Tony’s ass enough? The whole thing stinks of hypocrisy and makes me sick. I would happily visit the Negro Leagues museum, but Cooperstown has been permanently scratched off my Bucket List.
Thanks, Gary. The Hall of Fame, like everything else in baseball, has become all about marketing, with the goal of generating interest and revenue by creating controversies each year. No doubt, soon, MLB and the Hall of Fame will set up betting parlors in Cooperstown, where visitors can wager on which candidates will get elected, with the longshots producing the biggest payouts. “Look, junior, 200-to-1 odds on Jason Giambi. Can you believe it? Hand over the allowance money…” Why bother with games when a scam like that would generate millions?
I can understand that there was no way the Cardinals were going to offer him the same money that the Yankees did. Still, though, I wish he could have retired in St. Louis. Someone like Carlos Beltran not only produces on the field, but provides leadership and a good example in the clubhouse. Sorry that he tarnished his image a bit with the sign stealing scandal. Even after all these years his collision with Mike Cameron is downright scary to watch.
Thanks, Phillip. You’re right about Carlos Beltran being a good example. For many years, he actively supported with time and money the Harlem RBIs Real Kids program. His Carlos Beltran Foundation has done good work for children and for people in need. He also opened a school, the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy. In 2010, Beltran received the Joan Payson Award from the New York baseball writers for outstanding work in the community. Later, he received MLB’s Roberto Clemente Award for his work to help others.
I don’t get it – what does Tony LaRussa have to do with Beltran’s HOF chances?
Also, and this is not a criticism, but this is the second time in a week you’ve cited the SF Examiner, which has been a throwaway flyer for 25 years. Is there something about researching newspaper quotes that makes it easier to access the Examiner than the Chronicle? Thanks.
Thanks for asking about the San Francisco newspapers as a research tool. The San Francisco Examiner archives are available to subscribers of newspapers.com. The San Francisco Chronicle archives are available only through 1923 on newspapers.com. I sometimes use the San Jose Mercury-News, Oakland Tribune and others when I cannot get what I need from the Examiner.