Do the Mets need to worry about Carlos Beltran’s Astros connection?

Two years ago and miles away from Citi Field, the new manager of the New York Mets may have gotten himself mixed up with a major MLB scandal. Will it affect the Mets?

This week took a big turn for the New York Mets. In what should have been all about celebrating Pete Alonso’s Rookie of the Year and Jacob deGrom’s Cy Young, an MLB bombshell came out earlier this week and it involves the new manager of the ball club.

Back in 2017, the Houston Astros were victorious in their pursuit of winning a championship. They may not have won so cleanly. As we all know by now, the alleged sign-stealing by the club which involved the use of cameras, whistling, and garbage can banging has put the new Mets manager in an odd position.

Carlos Beltran was a member of the 2017 Astros and allegedly played a role in their sign-stealing. As a noted veteran and leader of the ball club, it’s hard to imagine much went on without his knowledge. So, if the Astros were, in fact, stealing signs, Beltran was involved in one way or another.

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For the Mets, it’s a bitter taste. Beltran was the only other manager left in their final round of interviews I believe fans would have accepted. This story puts a bit of a damper on things. At least for a little while, we’ll have to put the party hats away.

If found guilty, the Astros would and should face some harsh penalties. The organization didn’t violate some kind of unwritten rule. They broke an existing one with their use of cameras.

Up in New York, there has been some concern about whether or not Beltran could face a penalty for his involvement. Without knowing the full story, it’s tough to really know. When we do learn a little more about how much he actually participated in, I still don’t think there’s much for the Flushing Faithful to worry about.

By punishing Beltran with anything more than a fine, the league would punish the Mets. It wouldn’t stop there either. They could also pursue action against Boston Red Sox manager, Alex Cora. Back in 2017, he was the bench coach of the Astros. His involvement feels a little more direct considering he was a coach and not a player. Even so, MLB would be wrong if they levied anything more than a punishment to his wallet.

Let’s say MLB does act aggressively and Beltran is suspended for a duration. It wouldn’t reach 80 games or anywhere close to it. The handful of games he could miss wouldn’t be significant enough.

What’s more, we have to again ask ourselves, how much does a manager in baseball even matter these days?

Brodie Van Wagenen would still write the lineup—wink, wink. In-game decisions would matter, but with Beltran’s lack of experience, are the Mets really missing out on much?

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Worrying about how this may affect the Mets is unnecessary right now. It’s exclusively an Astros problem and for it to extend beyond, MLB will have reached too far.