And, in 2014, that plan was executed. Beltran spent 76 games at DH and 32 games in right, but things didn’t go quite as general manager Brian Cashman had hoped. The 16-year veteran’s TAv dropped to .260, its lowest mark since 2000, and he drove in just 49 runs in 109 games.

Immediately, the deal was declared a mess. Good Lord, the Yankees have to roster this guy for two more seasons? He’s so old; his production will never return anywhere close to its All-Star levels. At least he’s not out being old in right field.

Suddenly, there was 37-year-old Carlos Beltran being old in right field.

When Alex Rodriguez returned from his season-long PED suspension, the team and its fans readied themselves for a tumultuous six months. He was entering his 21st big-league season, had clubbed just 45 home runs over the past three seasons, and  hadn’t played 140 games in nearly a decade. With Chase Headley and his shiny new contract occupying third base, the decision was made to try A-Rod out exclusively at DH, so he could make the most of his at-bats.

Against all odds, Rodriguez returned from a four-year hiatus like only Kanye West could. He ran out of the gate like a caged dog, hitting .278 in the first half of the season with 18 home runs and 51 RBIs, and took total control of the DH spot in the lineup.

The Beltran plan was crumpled up and tossed in the wastebin. He was reinserted into right field, and although he weirdly learned how to hit again, he was awful from a defensive standpoint. The three-time Gold Glove winner posted a -15.4 FRAA, which is Baseball Prospectus’ individual defensive metric that factors in things like ballparks and player handedness. 15.4 runs below average! Beltran single-handedly sunk the Yankees’ defensive efficiency to the 22nd worst mark in the league. With an uptick in offensive production, but a poor glove, was the deal still a mess? Based on the team’s new look, yes, it sort of was.

Now, if this were the ‘Millenium Yankees,’ which is some bland nickname for the early-2000s Yankees that I literally just created for the purpose of this article, this would be an entirely different story. Those teams didn’t care about defense, all they cared about was dingers. In a heartbeat, they’d take Beltran’s .280 TAv and 19 home runs in exchange for long, winding routes to fly balls. These aren’t your older brother’s Yankees, though. By locking up Headley, Gregorius and Ellsbury in the last couple of seasons, then adding Starlin Castro and Aaron Hicks this winter, it’s clear the Yankees are attempting to build a young, glove-happy team.

Beltran will be gone after this season, and young Aaron Judge will take his place in right, but he’s still going to have to trot out to right field over 100 times this season with news that Rodriguez will continue as the team’s DH in 2016. For the time being, Rodriguez is inadvertently forcing the Yankees to lean on a player with a sub-zero defensive rating in one of their corner outfield spots. It won’t be a big deal one year from now, but Rodriguez may not be a big deal one year from now either. If the team is serious about contending in 2016, then this matters. It’s not on Beltran, and it’s not on Rodriguez, but the two of them have created a defensive issue for the Yankees.

Lead photo: Jonathan Dyer / USA Today Sports

First you lose your innocence, which is a bummer. Then your hair goes. Next comes a time when you’re losing your keys on a daily basis, and eventually you’ve lost control of your bodily functions. Last but not least, your mortal coil is gone. There are undoubtedly some skipped steps in there, but those are the basics.

One of the places where we find ourselves observing aging the most closely is in professional sports. Because the athletes compete at such a high level, even the slightest effects of aging can rob them of their abilities in short order. Free agent contracts are often disastrous because of nothing more than the mundane aging process that affects all human beings.

As far as the New York Yankees are concerned, it is easy to see the effects of advancing years everywhere you look. Although the team is making some effort to get younger, this is still a club of relative greybeards, most of whom have seen much better days.

A perfect example is Carlos Beltran, who has gone from one of the best defensive players of his era in center field to a guy who ought to be playing out his career as a still-productive designated hitter. It’s a pretty stunning fall from grace in terms of defensive value provided, but it’s not unprecedented by any means. After all, the Yankees actual DH, Alex Rodriguez, used to be a Gold-Glove shortstop in his day.

The problem is that the way the Yankees are constructed, Beltran does not get an honorable discharge from playing in the field. Because the team has A-Rod, Mark Teixeira, and Greg Bird, they are committed to sticking him out in right field on a regular basis. In 2015, the results of that course of action were not good. According to Defensive Runs Saved, Beltran cost the Yankees 14 runs in the field—and even the more generous Ultimate Zone Rating pegged him at a -4.5.

At the age of 38, he simply can’t get to balls anymore. The chart below shows the plays he made in right in 2015:

Candidate One: “Beltran’s leaping snag”

The title is promising because there is a level of impressiveness implied in the word “leaping”, unfortunately the catch itself underwhelms.

Beltran glides over to the ball and his “leap” can’t be more than a few inches high. He shows good awareness of where the wall is, but there’s not much else to see here.

Candidate Two: “Beltran makes diving catch to rob Lowrie”

Another very solid title, another disappointing play.

There is undoubtedly some nifty work here going to the ground, but the commentator specifically says there’s a “late jump” by Beltran and this is a play that is not hard to make. The 38-year-old made it hard with his poor jump and lack of speed.

Candidate Three: “Beltran’s nice grab, ends the frame”

This play is named a little more cautiously and context is probably more important here than the catch itself.

To be frank, there aren’t many major-league right fielders incapable of running in and make a basket catch at knee level. Highlight reel material this is not.

Candidate Four: “Beltran reaches up for a nice catch in right”

Another perfect deployment of the word “nice” to deflate expectations.

These type of catches are harder to make than it might appear, but the jump component here is pretty pitiful and this is not a catch that anyone is talking about the next day.

Candidate Five: “Beltran retires Betts with a nice catch”

Nice strikes again and it’s starting to feel almost patronizing to the old man at this point.

Beltran is apparently battling the lights here so there’s an added degree of difficulty, but you wouldn’t see this on Kevin Kiermaier’s top catches of the season.

Realistically speaking, that’s about it. MLB.com may have missed something, but those guys are pretty thorough and combined with the Inside Edge data it seems safe to say Beltran didn’t make a single special catch in 2015.

There’s not necessarily anything wrong with that, Beltran’s career has evolved to the point that he’s essentially a bat-only player. However, with aging superstars there’s always the hope that once in awhile they can demonstrate what made them great in their youth as they approach the end, even if the can’t do it with any kind of consistency.

Unfortunately, last season Beltran wasn’t able to do that, even once.

Lead photo courtesy of Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports