Astros' Carlos Beltran Retires After 20 Years In MLB

HOUSTON, TX — Longtime baseball great and future Hall of Fame player Carlos Beltran announced his retirement from the sport Monday morning. In a heartfelt blog on The Players' Tribune, Beltran wrote in both English and Spanish that his 20-year career has come to an end after he won his only World Series championship earlier this month with the Houston Astros.

The 40-year-old Beltran was a nine-time All-Star and hit 435 career home runs. He played for seven different teams: the Astros, Kansas City Royals, New York Mets, New York Yankees, St. Louis Cardinals, Texas Rangers and San Francisco Giants. He hit for a .231 average with 14 home runs and 51 RBIs in 129 games with Houston this season.

"I had always dreamed about winning a championship, and I chased every opportunity to do so in my career. But I never thought that I needed to win a World Series to make my career complete. Like I said before, I realized early on that my purpose in this game was to share knowledge with younger players and to give back to the game of baseball. I always wanted to do that — that, and be the best teammate I could possibly be. Over 20 years, I feel like I accomplished that. So whether we won or lost Game 7, I would have still been happy with my career.

But it still feels nice to have a ring….

And now, if I have to leave you with only one thing — one thing that I think represents my career and the way I feel about everybody who has been a part of it — I will leave you with a story about something that happened right after we won the World Series.

We were in the clubhouse, celebrating as a team, and all of the young guys — Springer, Marwin, Correa, Altuve — they were all coming up to me saying, “Thank you, Carlos! … Gracias! Gracias! … Thank you for everything!”

I stopped them and I said, “No, no, my friends. No….

“Thank you.”

This is and always will be my response when someone thanks me for what I’ve done in this game. Because I am so eternally grateful.

I am blessed to have played this game for 20 years.

I am blessed to have played for so many great organizations.

I am blessed to have shared all of my experiences with my wife and my three kids, my family and friends. To have so many loving fans. To have been able to build a school in Puerto Rico and change the lives of so many kids. To have won the Roberto Clemente Award, which is the greatest honor I could have ever received as a ballplayer.

And I am blessed to be a champion.

But now, my time as a player has come to an end.

Today, I am officially announcing my retirement.

Muchas gracias, béisbol.

I can’t wait for what the next chapter holds."

Here's the full link to his message in English on The Players' Tribune, and here's the link in Spanish.

Image: Carlos Beltran of the Houston Astros smiles in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in eighth inning of Game 3 of National League Championship Series against the St. Louis Cardinals during the 2004 Major League Baseball Playoffs on October 16, 2004 at Minute Maid Park in Houston, Texas. (Photo By Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)