SF Giants will retire Carlos Beltran's number, but not because he made Hall of Fame

It was announced on Tuesday that former SF Giants outfielder Carlos Beltran was elected to the Hall of Fame. The controversial slugger spent less than half a season with the Giants, but his number will still be retired...not in honor of him though.

Some may remember that Beltran stole the number 15 from manager Bruce Bochy for his brief tenure with the Giants. Obviously, that number is going to be retired in honor of Bochy presumably after he is inducted into the Hall which should occur fairly soon.

Beltran told Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that he had to give Bochy a watch in exchange for the number and Bochy briefly wore 16.

SF Giants will retire No. 15 to honor Bochy, not Beltran

The Giants traded for Beltran in the middle of the 2011 season in a desperate attempt to repeat after their miraculous 2010 title run. Buster Posey had gone down with his major leg injury and the Giants were in need of a bat so general manager Brian Sabean swung for the fences and traded away top prospect Zack Wheeler to the New York Mets in exchange for Beltran.

Looking back, the trade did not pan out as Beltran was only a Giant for a few months before hitting free agency while Wheeler eventually went on to be one of the best pitchers in baseball.

The Giants did not make the playoffs after trading for Beltran even though he hit quite well for the team. In 44 games he slashed .323/.369/.551 with seven home runs and 18 runs driven in. Yet, he was roundly booed the following season when the Giants faced Beltran and the St. Louis Cardinals in the NLCS.

It is easy to look back at the trade for Beltran as a failure, but one cannot wish that the Giants tinkered with anything they did during the championship years because maybe if they hadn't made that move they would not have won the World Series in 2012 and 2014.

The butterfly effect can work in mysterious ways.

It is more interesting to marvel at the fact that Sabean was equally aggressive the following season as he traded for outfielder Hunter Pence. It would have been easy to be gun shy after the Beltran trade did not pan out, but he went for it again after Melky Cabrera got suspended and this time it resulted in a title even though Pence hit quite poorly after joining the Giants.

Baseball works in mysterious ways as well.

Beltran went on to be a controversial figure because of his involvement in the Houston Astros sign stealing scandal, but the Hall of Fame voters showed that they will cherry pick what issues are disqualifying for a player.

No. 15 will be retired by the Giants fairly soon, but it is not due to Beltran at all.