/Mets fire manager Carlos Beltran in wake of Astros sign-stealing scandal

Mets fire manager Carlos Beltran in wake of Astros sign-stealing scandal

The New York Mets fired manager Carlos Beltran Thursday, just days after Major League Baseball connected him to a sign-stealing scandal that’s rocked the sport.

St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina celebrates after New York Mets Carlos Beltran takes a called third strike to end the game at Shea Stadium during game 7 of the National League Championship Series on Oct 19, 2006.John Dunn / Sporting News via Getty Images file

Beltran, 42, would have been the first Latino manager of the National League club. His hiring was announced Nov. 1, but he was terminated before the start of spring training for the 2020 season. The former player said in a joint statement released by the team that he and management “mutually agreed to part ways.”

“I’m grateful to them for giving me the opportunity, but we agreed this decision is in the best interest of the team,” Beltran said. “I couldn’t let myself be a distraction for the team. I wish the entire organization success in the future.”

Mets Chief Operating Officer Jeff Wilpon, Executive Vice President, General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen said that it was not an easy decision.

“Considering the circumstances, it became clear to all parties that it was not in anyone’s best interest for Carlos to move forward as Manager of the New York Mets,” the men said in the joint statement.

The perennial All-Star and potential Hall of Fame outfielder spent his last season as a player with the 2017 Houston Astros, whose legitimate claim to that year’s world title has now been called into question.

MLB issued a damning report on Monday, showing how the Astros set up an elaborate system of cameras, monitors and trash cans used as percussion instruments to steal pitch signs of opponents playing at Houston’s Minute Maid Park.

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Houston General Manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were suspended by Major League Baseball, just an hour before the Astros fired both men.

The MLB called the scheme “player-driven” and named two members of that team in the report, Beltran and then-Astros bench coach Alex Cora.

From left, Houston Astros Bench coach Alex Cora, Alex Cintron, Carlos Beltran and Carlos Correa pose for a photo in the clubhouse after defeating the New York Yankees in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series at Minute Maid Park on Oct. 21, 2017 in Houston, Texas.Cooper Neill / MLB via Getty Images file

“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,” according to the MLB report.

“Cora arranged for a video room technician to install a monitor displaying the center field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros’ dugout.”

Signals were then relayed to the hitters by someone banging on a trash can.

By knowing the upcoming pitch type, batters could adjust their timing. For instance, batters would know to swing early if a fastball was coming — or sit back and judge the location for a breaking ball or changeup.

While using the human eye to steal an opponent’s signs is a time-honored ⁠— and even celebrated ⁠— art in baseball, employing technology is forbidden.

Cora left Houston the following winter to become manager of the Boston Red Sox, who went on to win the World Series in 2018.

The Red Sox fired Cora on Tuesday night, saying “it would not be possible for Alex to effectively lead the club going forward” into the 2020 season with the Astros scandal lingering over his head.

Baseball players and fans across America have responded to the scandal with equal measures of anger and comic mockery of the Astros.

The Staten Island Yankees, a minor league affiliate of the New York Yankees, trashed the Astros, announcing a Sept. 3 garbage can giveaway when the New York-Penn League team plays the Tri-City ValleyCats. The ValleyCats’ parent club is the Astros.

Beltran was even mocked by a one-time teammate of his, former Mets catcher Paul Lo Duca.

Both players were on the 2006 Mets and their season came to an end with a crushing loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 7 of the National League Championship Series.

With the Mets trailing, 3-1. Lo Duca drew a ninth-inning walk to load the bases with two outs before Beltran took a called third strike to end the game.

“I wish Carlos Beltran had the signs after I walked in the 2006 playoffs,” Lo Duca wisecracked on Monday night.

Following Cora, Dave Martinez of the Washington Nationals and Charlie Montoyo of the Toronto Blue Jays, Beltran had been the fourth Puerto Rican ever hired to manage an MLB team.

Doha Madani contributed.

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