The post-playing days for Carlos Beltrán have included much more drama than he likely expected. Instead of a quiet and comfortable retirement, he's been in the spotlight for mostly negative reasons.
He was hired to be the Mets manager for the 2020 season, but then the Astros' sign-stealing scandal broke and he was dismissed before ever managing a game. He recently had served as a color commentator for the Yankees on YES Network, but he's moved on. Fresh off getting 46.5 percent of the vote in his first time on the Hall of Fame ballot, he's been hired by the Mets to work in the front office.
Still, it seems like Beltrán still hopes to become a manager one day. As transcribed by Newsday:
"But you can never say no, right?" Beltrán said Wednesday during a 13-minute media session in the home dugout at Clover Park. "You can never say no when you love the game and you love being around guys and being able to impact players and make players' careers better. At this point, I'm OK where I am. But later on, I don't know."
The odds seem pretty good that he gets another chance at some point. A.J. Hinch was the Astros manager in 2017 and he's returned to the dugout as the Tigers manager, while the Red Sox straight up just hired Alex Cora back after he was fired for the 2020 season. Beltrán doesn't have the managerial resume of either, so it might take some time before getting a(nother) shot, but working with players in the Mets organization only helps his chances moving forward.
