Carlos Beltran: St. Louis Cardinals' new outfielder
Carlos Beltran is no alien to the list of eminent players in Major League Baseball. He is as elevated, noted and revered a player as it gets when it comes to the big names of the game. Having been in the professional circuit for over a decade, Carlos Beltran
has recently signed a two-year contract with the St. Louis Cardinals as an outfielder.
From the role of centre-fielder to the leadoff hitter, Beltran has proved his efficacy in every position he has been assigned throughout his career. Within a year when he was signed for the Kansas City Royals in 1998, he won the American League Rookie of
the Year Award, effectively pronouncing his arrival in the enviable baseball arena.
With the consistency that came to identify his professional outlook, the centre-fielder served the Royals from 1998 to 2004 and then played for the Houston Astros. In 2004, he went on to set a record as he hit a homer in each game of the National League
Division Series, making it a total of five in all games.
With such a degree of firmness and remarkable consistency that was on display, the New York Mets came to offer the biggest bid of the franchise in a $119 million seven-year deal for Beltran. Prior to this big contract, only nine players in the history of
baseball could have attracted a deal worth above $100 million.
Beltran proved his selection right for the team. Although he could not unfortunately become the Most Valuable Player in the American League, even though he was part of the All-Star Game, Beltran hit two grand slams within two days to become the game’s 22nd
player to have achieved this glory. The same saw him win the National League Gold Glove and Silver Slugger Award.
He remained attached to the New York Mets up until 2011, only to sign a contract with the San Francisco Giants. He scored a total of 78 runs in the season with a .300 average, having 84 RBIs. He remained seventh in the National League with a .385 OBP and
ninth in OPS with .910, hitting a total of 22 home-runs.
Seeing this laudable form, the St. Louis Cardinals signed a two year contract with the player on December 22 last year.
Beltran is a player who believes in doing better on each given day.
“I just need to come to the park every day thinking something good is going to happen to me and hoping today is going to be the day,” says Carlos Beltran. “It just feels great to come out to the ballpark and have every game mean something.”
As he remained one of the most identifiable players of the Kansas City Royals, his former team manager Allard Baird seems to agree with that statement. In Baird’s view, Beltran has all the potential to be an All-Star.
His agent Scott Boras asserts, “In my mind, he’s one of the top five players in the game. He can run, he can throw, he can hit, and he plays a premium position. He’s a franchise player.”
With 1768 games that this player has played so far, Beltran has an average of .283; which in itself goes on to show how consistent he has performed throughout these years, having had 302 home-runs to his credit and scoring 1184 runs.
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