Carlos Beltran was thinking about being a manager before he even announced his retirement

Monday morning, Carlos Beltran announced his retirement from baseball after 20 years in the league. He won a World Series ring with the Astros this year, at long last, and I can’t think of many things that are better than finally winning the big one and then walking into the sunset.

Plus, you know he thought long and hard about this decision because he didn’t do the “on-field surprise retirement announcement” right after they lifted the trophy, although that may have also been because it would have been overshadowed by another big moment.

But you can tell he considered both sides of this decision a lot.

While Beltran’s long career as a player may be coming to an end, he’s not about to walk away from baseball completely.

Beltran spoke to a group of reporters Sunday night at The Hunt & Fish Club in New York, at a fundraiser co-hosted by Jorge and Laura Posada for The Foundation for Puerto Rico’s Hurricane Maria Relief Fund. While Yankees past and present chatted with donors and other celebrity guests, Beltran contemplated his own future in the game — before heading off to mingle and have a little fun as well, of course.

He repeatedly said that he hadn’t made a retirement decision yet, and that he was still discussing with his family on whether he would play one more year or stay home, especially after winning and having a fun time in Houston with a “great group of guys.”

While that may be true — because who hasn’t woken up on a Monday morning and decided they were going to retire? — he probably had at least an inkling about what the future held. Which makes his comments about managing a team someday all the more intriguing.

When asked whether he would ever want to manage, Beltran said that he “loves to study the game” and that if one day he gets the opportunity, “that would be great.” He also revealed that he “told [his] wife that that will be something that [he] wanted to do” and that if he decided to retire (which we now know is the case) that would be something that he wanted to accomplish.

At the mention of one high-profile job that remains open — that which Joe Girardi recently vacated, not of his own volition — Beltran was cagey about the possibility of taking his talents back to New York.

He said “I mean there’s a lot of candidates out there, like I said I haven’t made a decision, so if I make the decision to stay home then we can talk about it, but right now it’s ... I haven’t made a decision yet.”

He’s made his decision now, though, so maybe some calls will be made since he can look forward to what’s next. Beltran spent six seasons with the Mets and two-plus years with the Yankees, so New York is a familiar place to call home for him and his family.

Beltran is right that there are a lot of candidates swirling for that job, but Yankees GM Brian Cashman previously said that “his list for potential replacements is a diverse one” and “it would be nice to bring someone in who has a prior relationship with the organization,” which both describe Beltran and his background.

Even if he does end up taking a manager job, this season or after some time away from the game, getting another job in baseball isn’t at the top of his mind right now.

He told SB Nation that his wife and Astros owner Jim Crane had a conversation “about trying to do something later on for Puerto Rico” with the World Championship team going to the island, and noted how incredibly supportive ownership has been in the face of multiple natural disasters affecting players on the team.

For right now, he’s focused on being there in person to help, distributing the massive amount of supplies that they have collected, and getting the island back on its feet so that it’s ready for whatever World Series party they bring to Puerto Rico in the coming months.

Update: Yes, Brian Cashman is indeed on the same page as everybody else out there that is speculating where Beltran could end up next year.

We hope he liked the slimming effect of pinstripes, because that “return to New York” possibility is looking more and more likely by the second.