Royals 2004 Stars Series: Carlos Beltran


Kansas City had a roster that had many future superstars in the early 2000's from Jermaine Dye to Johnny Damon and Carlos Beltran. Unfortunately, like the 2015 World Series team, Kansas City was unable to keep these super stars in the Midwest long-term due to being a small market team and the team's unwillingness to spend big on one player. The Royals in 1995 drafted future Hall of Famer Carlos Beltran out of Fernando Callejo High School (Puerto Rico) in the second round. Beltran made his big league debut on Monday, September 14, 1998 against the Oakland Athletics at Kauffman Stadium. Unlike most players, Beltran never played in Triple-A before reaching the big leagues. Beltran made his major league debut that evening with over 12,000 in attendance. Unfortunately for Beltran and the Royals, the team was struggling to reach the postseason during his time with the team. Despite the team's failure to make the playoffs during Beltran's time in Kansas City, he definitely made Royals baseball fun to watch again for many fans. Although Beltran was unable to stay in a Royals uniform his entire career, he definitely put up numbers that made Royals baseball fun to watch during the late 1990's and early 2000's. Beltran ended his rookie campaign in Kansas City with a bang by winning the American League Rookie of the Year. The outfielder posted a .293 batting average with 22 home runs along with an incredible 108 runs batted in 156 games. He also stole 27 bases. Following Beltran's rookie campaign, he only played in 98 games for the ball club due to injury that season. Beltran struggled at the plate with a .247 batting average along with 44 runs batted in and a dismal seven home runs. Beltran was able to storm back from his injury plagued season with an incredible batting average of .306. The outfielder's great hitting skills were on full display that season with 24 home runs and 101 runs batted in. Beltran's slugging percentage from 2001 to 2004 remained in the five hundreds. The 2004 season for Beltran was his last season in Kansas City as the team traded the outfielder to the Astros in a three team trade with the Athletics. The Royals in my opinion could have gotten more in return for a potential future hall of famer. Kansas City acquired a trio of players from the Athletics and the Astros in pitcher Mike Wood, third baseman Mark Teahen, and catcher John Buck. The Royals are known for not spending boat loads of money on one particular player since entering the league in 1969. Beltran, following the end of the 2004 season, signed a seven year deal with the New York Mets worth $119 million. The Beltran signing became the largest signing in franchise history at that time. Kansas City's largest signing in franchise history to this point doesn't even come close to the $119 million the Mets gave Beltran. The Royals largest contract in franchise history is catcher Salvador Perez's four year deal for $82 million, surpassing former Royals outfielder Alex Gordon's four year $72 million. The Royals are known to let big name players walk in free agency; but did the team offer Beltran a contract before trading him to Houston? Kansas City reportedly never offered Beltran a new contract. According to a tweet from Ken Rosenthal back in 2013, the Royals never offered the outfielder a new contract: " Royals have not offered Beltran $48 million for three years. To get to that level, ownership likely would need to intervene."  After leaving Kansas City, Beltran played another 16 years in the league with seven different teams. Beltran's time in Kansas City in my opinion is sometimes overlooked by baseball fans outside of the Kansas City metro because the outfielder played the majority of his career with six different teams after leaving Kansas City; but Beltran definitely is, and will continue to be an important part of the Royals team history.

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