Carlos Beltran Won't Visit White House With Astros

HOUSTON, TX — Carlos Beltran, a nine-time all-star who recently retired after winning a World Series with the Houston Astros, said he will not attend the White House with his former teammates.

Tuesday night at the Thurman Munson Dinner in New York, Beltran said President Donald Trump's position at the White House had no effect on his decision, but did declare the U.S. government's response to Hurricane Maria's damage in Puerto Rico was disappointing.

"There’s no doubt I’m disappointed and I’m not the only one," said Beltran, a Puerto Rican native. "Being part of the United States, you expect to at least get the same benefits (when) tragedies like this happen."

Beltran, 40, was a nine-time all-star who won his only World Series ring last fall. He retired after the season, and he said he doesn't feel he belongs to any baseball team anymore.

"My family ... that’s the team I feel I belong to right now," he said.

The Astros accepted the White House invitation, which is customary for sports teams that win major titles. Such visits have become more controversial since Trump became president, with more and more players skipping the visit based on political differences. Beltran said that wasn't the case with him.

"(Trump) is the President of the United States," Beltran said, according to the New York Daily News. "If sometimes we don’t like the things that he does, or we like the things that he does, at the end of the day he’s the president, so (it has) nothing to do with that.

"Honestly, I’m not into politics. I’m more into the baseball side of it, sports side of it. That’s something that I don’t have a lot of opinion on that."

Image: Hope Awards Recipient Carlos Beltran speaks onstage SPORTS ILLUSTRATED 2017 Sportsperson of the Year Show on December 5, 2017 at Barclays Center in New York City. (Photo by Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated)