Iglesias budding music act reaches Mets' ears

This story was excerpted from Anthony DiComo’s Mets Beat newsletter. To read the full newsletter, click here. And subscribe to get it regularly in your inbox.

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Last month, Mark Vientos was working out in the Mets’ Clover Park weight room when José Iglesias whipped out his phone and keyed up a music video. It was “No Voy A Volver,” a single that Iglesias had released with the Cuban musician Lenier in early February. Initially, Vientos thought the whole thing was a joke. Then he looked closer and realized it actually was his teammate singing and dancing around a garden pool.

“I was like, ‘Bro, you actually sound pretty good,’” Vientos said, laughing. “I was surprised. I didn’t know that.”

Consider Vientos one of a shrinking few. As of Thursday afternoon, “No Voy A Volver” had racked up nearly 1.7 million views on YouTube and another 137,000 streams on Spotify.

“It was time to do it,” Iglesias said of going public with his music career. “I love music. That’s what I do in my down time in my hotels, in my travels. I write songs. It’s pretty cool. It’s something fun that I really enjoy doing.”

A veteran shortstop with parts of 11 seasons in the big leagues, Iglesias said he became interested in music production shortly after defecting from Cuba to the United States as an 18-year-old in 2008. Along the way, Iglesias created a network of artistic friends, including singer Marc Anthony. Those two met through their mutual agency and grew so close that they now sport matching tattoos on their forearms. (The script reads: “The secret to having it all is believing you already do.”)

Iglesias hired a staff to help him film and produce “No Voy A Volver,” and he expects to drop more music in the near future. Although Iglesias considers this a serious endeavor, which he plans to continue after retiring from his day job, it does remain second behind baseball in his mind. After a difficult 2023 season that saw him sign three different Minor League contracts and be released from each of them, Iglesias inked a similar deal with the Mets this offseason. He’s battling Zack Short and others for an infield spot on the team’s crowded bench.

“I’ve got so much baseball left in me,” Iglesias said. “The Mets saw that, and that’s why I’m here working hard like I’m a rookie.”

Just two years ago, Iglesias appeared in 118 games for the Rockies, batting .292. He hit .373 with the Orioles during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, boasting a .279 career mark in the Majors.

Defensively, the sure-handed Iglesias has never produced a negative Outs Above Average total in a single season, topping out at +11 in 2019.

And if things go his way this season, Iglesias eventually plans to merge his two artforms. His idea: a postgame concert at Citi Field after the Mets win the World Series, featuring “No Voy A Volver” and other songs. He may even recruit Anthony for the show.

“There’s no concert if we don’t win,” Iglesias said. “We need 40,000 people in the stands in order to sing, so we’ve got to make the playoffs.”