After 20 seasons, Carlos Beltran finally took his place among the greatest players in Major League Baseball history.
And the Kansas City Royals were right at the forefront.
On Tuesday, Beltran joined George Brett as the lone Royals — with multiple seasons in a KC uniform — to be elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame. Beltran headlines the 2026 class alongside Andruw Jones and Jeff Kent.
The trio will be inducted July 26 in Cooperstown, New York.
“You know, there’s no doubt that today my life really has changed,” Beltran said on a Zoom call with reporters. “Just being able to be named to the Hall of Fame and what this really means to me, to Puerto Rico, to our family and to our project in Puerto Rico promoting baseball — the Carlos Beltran Baseball Academy — all those things. It’s just a great thing. Through my career, through the ups and downs of baseball, I can say that I’m a Hall of Famer.”
Beltran spent seven seasons with the Royals. He felt honored to play for the organization and was appreciative of his early tenure in Kansas City.
The Royals selected Beltran in the second round of the 1995 MLB Draft — with an assist by former area scout Johnny Ramos — and he made his big-league debut three seasons later.
“When I got to the minor leagues, I was welcomed by (former Gulf Coast League Royals manager) Bob Herold,” Beltran said. “He was a coach in the minor league system. An American coach that spoke Spanish. For me, that was great because at least I can talk and somebody can understand me, right? Back in those days, there weren’t too many Latino coaches.”
Beltran was comfortable with the Royals, and it showed in his play. He posted a .287 batting average with 123 homers, 516 RBIs and an .835 OPS in 795 games.
The Royals offered Beltran a chance to develop at the highest level. Beltran lauded Brett and others for his ability to grow as a major league player.
“It was an incredible experience just to be able to be around George Brett,” Beltran said. “The influence that he was to me, just being able to learn from him and go to the (batting) cages with George and listening to him. Just listening to the way he approached the game, how hard he played the game of baseball and how much he enjoyed the game of baseball. So for me, it was a great experience.”
The Royals retained Beltran until midway through the 2004 season. He was traded to the Houston Astros prior to hitting free agency.
“You know, when you become close to becoming a free agent, a lot of times the organization — they make decisions on continuing to strengthen the system to try to get a prospect,” Beltran said.
Beltran went on to play for the Astros, New York Mets, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. He is one of four players with at least 2,700 hits, 400 homers, 1,500 runs and 300 steals. The others are Barry Bonds, Willie Mays and Alex Rodriguez.
Additionally, Beltran finished as a nine-time All-Star, three-time Gold Glove winner, two-time Silver Slugger and a 2017 World Series Champion. He also received the Roberto Clemente Award in his illustrious career.
