Carlos Beltran is close to heading back to the Mets as a member of the team’s front office.
Beltran has not yet signed a contract to work for the Mets, but the sides have agreed that he will work as an assistant under general manager Billy Eppler in baseball operations, according to SNY's Andy Martino.
Beltran, who had been working as a Yankees television analyst, is joining the Mets front office not long after Buck Showalter considered him for a spot on his coaching staff this past November.
The Mets hired Beltran to be the team's manager in November 2019, but when the former All-Star was the only player to be named in the 2020 report by Major League Baseball about the 2017 Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, the team decided to dismiss him as manager before the start of the 2020 season.
It was reported in late November that the Mets had gauged Beltran's interest in joining the team’s coaching staff, per the New York Post's Mike Puma.
In September, Francisco Lindor and Edwin Diaz both made it clear they would want Beltran to rejoin the organization. (Both made it clear they were not advocating for Beltran to replace Showalter).
“Would I like him to be with the team?” Lindor said at the time. “Of course. One hundred percent.”
Diaz responded the same way: “Of course. He knows so much about baseball. He can help the youngest players to develop. He was one of the best players in baseball. I think he should be in the Hall of Fame.”
Beltran, who was recently on the Hall of Fame ballot for the first time, hit .279/.350/.486 with 435 home runs and 1,587 RBI during a 20-year career where he made nine All-Star teams. He received 46.5 percent of the vote, short of the 75 percent threshold.
Five of Beltran's All-Star appearances came in a Mets uniform between 2005 and 2011, as he slugged 149 home runs and served as an integral part of the 2006 club that finished just one game shy of a World Series appearance.
Jon Heyman of the New York Post was the first to report Beltran joining the Mets' front office.