Power Pros Forum

I think part of it can be explained by Beltran's low-key personality. New Yorkers like outgoing personalities.

His defense is underrated. If he gets a good jump on a flyball and uses long, easy strides, he can usually track it down. However, to some people it doesn't look like he's trying that hard because he doesn't run like his feet are on fire. He gets there in time so often that he doesn't need to make highlight-reel catches. To quantify that, he's got the highest plus/minus rating (+59) for center fielders over the last three seasons.

His offense is hard to rate. His power production the last three seasons has been fine but not eye-popping. His .281 lifetime batting average isn't anything to write home about. He doesn't steal as many bases as he used to, but he's got the highest career success rate (min: 300 attempts) at 88.1%.