Former New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran is being dragged further down, as new details emerge about the Houston Astros’ scandal.
A new report by Ken Rosenthal, Evan Drellich, and Marc Carig of The Athletic is damning for Carlos Beltran. The former New York Mets manager has been caught up in the Houston Astros’ scandal since the beginning.
The original report by Rosenthal named Beltran as one of the ring leaders of the operation. Beltran ended up being the only player or former player named in MLB‘s final report.
Now The Athletic goes in-depth as to what Beltran’s role was in the scandal. After coming over from the New York Yankees with catcher Brian McCann, Beltran told the Astros’ their sign-stealing methods were behind the times.
He worked with Alex Cora to improve upon “Codebreaker” and eventually helped develop the new system that involved the trash cans.
In The Athletic’s reporting, multiple players speak up about Beltran and the presence he had in the clubhouse. Nobody held more weight or respect then he did, so what he said went. None of the young players were willing to tell him no.
Two players testified that McCann attempted to tell Beltran to stop on multiple occasions, but he refused to stop.
The report says that Beltran “bullied” and “bulldozed” his way through the clubhouse to get his way. He was given nicknames like “the Godfather” and “the King”.
It’s clear now that Beltran wasn’t just another player in this scandal. That said, it’s not fair to put all of the blame on him as this report does.
The Astros continued to cheat in 2018 and the scheme began in 2016. Both before and after he left. Even if he was a ringleader, acting like he was forcing players into this scheme is ridiculous.
They all willingly participated in a similar scheme just the next year when he wasn’t there.
Beltran is guilty and this does likely mean he’ll be blackballed from MLB, maybe even the Hall of Fame. He deserves the heat, but he doesn’t deserve the level of blame that’s being foisted upon him.
