Tensions unseen in this decade of baseball arose over the past couple of days, regarding the future of newly-hired Mets manager Carlos Beltran. After the firings of both Astros manager A.J Hinch and Red Sox manager Alex Cora for their involvements in their clubs cheating scandals, it was expected that Beltran be let go by the Mets for his contributions as a player in the 2017 Astros sign-stealing debacle—before even managing a game.
That rumor was confirmed this morning. The Mets and the former 9 time all star mutually parted ways, and as most reporters put is nicely, Beltran ‘stepped down’. He did so with an obvious presumption that the team would let him go, with all of the pressure from fans and reporters alike. They didn’t want those banging questions roaming above their heads the entire season, as they have a playoff push to focus on.
The initial reports say that Mets coach Luis Rojas is under consideration for the managerial vacancy, but other outside possibilities includes a list with names such as Buck Showalter, Dusty Baker, and John Gibbons. The Mets are in an odd place in terms of contending, with an elite pitching core and lineup with pieces to go far into October, but they always seem to be in this place, but fail to grasp onto the reigns of the Postseason with such competition in the National League. They are in desperate need of a manager that can come in and control things from the get-go, and Beltran seemed to be that guy. But karma ultimately came back to haunt him and this New York team.
It will be very interesting to see where they go from here, especially compared to their other “cheater” counterparts in the Astros and Red Sox. All three are playoff calibers teams, and are now put into a spot of demand and desperate times.
