by Derek McAdam (January 16, 2020)
January 13 was a hard day to swallow for former Houston Astros’ manager A.J. Hinch. Not only was he suspended for a whole season but was also relieved of his duties as manager.
The next day, January 14, Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the second manager to suffer the fate of losing his job as a result of his involvement in the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox cheating scandals. Cora also lost his job before Commissioner Rob Manfred has even released his punishment, which has been rumored to be harsher than Hinch’s one-year suspension.
After both of these men lost their jobs, a third name is beginning to surface… and he has yet to manage a single game for the team.
Carlos Beltran was hired this off-season to manage the New York Mets after moving on from Mickey Callaway, who only served a short stint in Queens for two seasons. Does Beltran deserve to be stripped of his manager role before he even manages a single game?
Beltran’s former teammate Mark Teixeira surely believes that the new Mets’ skipper has to go. The current ESPN analyst said on the network’s program “Get Up!” that because Beltran was virtually given a free pass due to his retirement.
“It’s really a loophole for Carlos Beltran because he retired immediately after the World Series,” said Teixeira via New York Post.
Teixeira also went on to say that until Beltran is removed from his position as manager, the New York media will continue to criticize him.
Beltran’s name was specifically mentioned in Manfred’s statement that he and other players were looking into finding ways to improve their decoding skills on opponent’s signs. Why was Beltran’s name used directly as opposed to one of the other players? Manfred must firmly believe that Beltran was the leader of the plan. If this is the case, then Beltran should definitely be fired or step down. This could happen sooner rather than later.
If the Mets decide to let Beltran manage their team for the 2020 season, the blood will then be on their hands. At this point, it is more of a matter of do the Mets want this topic to be part of their reputation?
Following the Red Sox lead, a decision on Beltran could (and should) be made at any time now. The question is if the Mets decide to move on from a manager who has yet to manage a single game.
Will the Mets do the right thing?
