Mets silent on Beltran’s job status
New manager in limbo after role in sign stealing revealed
NEW YORK — While the Astros and Red Sox took decisive action in jettisoning their managers after Major League Baseball concluded they were involved in nefarious sign stealing, the Mets have stayed silent on Carlos Beltran’s future.
The Astros fired AJ Hinch one hour after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred released his findings Monday. Red Sox management took 291⁄2 hours to announce Alex Cora’s departure Tuesday.
Beltran remains in limbo, with the Mets refusing to say whether their new manager stays or goes. In Manfred’s nine-page statement, Beltran was the only player identified as a participant in the cheating scheme.
“They have to fire Carlos Beltran,” a former Yankees teammate, Mark Teixeira, said Wednesday on ESPN, where he works as an analyst. “There’s no way that Carlos Beltran, especially in the pressure cooker of New York, there’s no way he can be the manager of the Mets . ... You cannot have that guy lead your team. The New York papers, the Daily News and the Post and all of the tabloids will eat up Carlos Beltran every single day until he’s fired.”
Cora was the Astros bench coach in 2017 and the instigator of the Astros’ use of a camera in center field and monitor near the dugout to steal catchers signals.
“Approximately two months into the 2017 season, a group of players, including Carlos Beltran, discussed that the team could improve on decoding opposing teams’ signs and communicating the signs to the batter,” Manfred wrote.
Hinch and Astros GM Jeff Luhnow received one-season suspensions before owner Jim Crane fired them. Manfred decided not to discipline players — 2017 was Beltran’s final season.
Mets management must ponder whether Beltran can be an effective leader given his behavior. Would young players view him as a cheater pushing them to break the rules? Would Beltran turn timid, afraid of attracting scrutiny from MLB investigators?
What would be the benefit of sticking with Beltran, who has no previous managerial experience?
Red Sox owner John Henry, chairman Tom Werner, CEO Sam Kennedy and chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom concluded Cora could not remain in Boston under similar circumstances.
“Alex by his own admission, and we agreed, played a central role in what went on in Houston,” Werner said. “We all agreed that it was wrong and that we had a responsibility as stewards, as John had said, to have a standard here where that sort of behavior is not acceptable.”
Kennedy said it wasn’t a close call.
“While it was difficult personally for a lot of people, professionally it was ultimately an easy decision for the Red Sox and for Alex. It was a mutual decision,” Kennedy said. “Alex came to the conclusion that he could not effectively lead the organization going forward in light of the commissioner’s findings and the ruling.
“And we came to that conclusion as well.”
Beltran’s playing time with the Mets is best remembered for when he walked away — from home plate after taking a called third strike from Cardinals pitcher Adam Wainwright that ended a 3-1 loss in Game 7 of the 2006 NL Championship Series with the based loaded.
As Mets manager, he might be none and done.
“I wish Carlos Beltran had the signs after I walked in the 2006 playoffs,” tweeted former Met Paul LoDuca, whose walk loaded the bases and brought Beltran to the plate.
The Mets have struggled since reaching the 2015 World Series, where they lost to the Royals. Terry Collins was fired in 2017 following his seventh season and Mickey Callaway was dismissed in October after his second. Steve Cohen, the hedge fund billionaire, is in the process of buying a controlling share of the team from the families of Fred and Jeff Wilpon, and of Saul Katz.
After evaluating operations this season, Cohen may decide on large-scale changes.
FAU cornerback Meiko Dotson returns an interception against Southern Miss last season at FAU Stadium.