Can’t See How Carlos Beltran Survives Cheating Scandal

Word from ESPN on Wednesday is that the Mets are “assessing the situation concerning” Carlos Beltran and his alleged role in the Astros sign-stealing scandal. It says here that that assessment will end with the Mets looking for a new manager.

I don’t think there is any way Beltran survives this. Commissioner Rob Manfred all but said Beltran was the ringleader behind the Astros cheating. When talking about the origins of the scheme, he said a “group of players, including Carlos Beltran…” Why mention Beltran if he was not the mastermind? He was the only player mentioned; that has to be the reason.

Then there is this — in explaining their firing of Alex Cora, the Red Sox on Wednesday said, “Alex, by his own admission, we agreed, played a central role in what happened in Houston. And we all agreed that it was wrong, and we had a responsibility as stewards… to have a standard here where that sort of behavior is not acceptable.”

So theoretically, the Red Sox fired Cora for what he did in Houston, that what he did was wrong and they could not accept that behavior. Beltran did the same wrong thing; do the Mets want to be seen as an organization that accepts that kind of behavior?

The answer is no. And it would not be a shock if MLB pressures the Mets to take action against Beltran. After all, the league decided it would not punish players. And by mentioning Beltran, it appears the league would like him to be punished. So the Mets might have to do the dirty work that the league did not want to do.

So get ready to answer a question we thought had already been answered this off-season — who will be the next manager of the Mets?