Mets: Who really is responsible for Carlos Beltran’s ouster?

Carlos Beltran didn’t last long as New York Mets manager. Who is most responsible for his ouster?

Carlos Beltran lasted 72 days as the New York Mets new manager, and yet unlike his seven-year playing career with the Amazin’s, he never got the chance to pilot the team that he said he would only manage.

In light of the fallout of the Houston Astros cheating scandal, otherwise known as Astrogate, four senior level officials on three major league teams lost their jobs. The Astros, the main perpetrators of the scandal fired General Manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J, Hinch, rather than have them face a season-long suspension. The Boston Red Sox mutually agreed with manager Alex Cora to have him step down. Cora was implicated as the ringleader in Astrogate, though controversy arose when the Red Sox were also accused of stealing signs during the 2018 season.

Then there’s the Mets. Yes, 72 days after announcing Beltran would manage the team, they decided to part ways with him. Reports have varied on how it came about, from Beltran’s alleged niece (since disproven) commenting on a now-deleted Twitter post saying that Beltran had decided it was in both his and the team’s best interest to step away, that COO Jeff Wilpon and General Manager Brodie Van Wagenen had both pressured Beltran to step down for fear of the “distraction”, or that Beltran had been fired, but the point is that the Mets, who had nothing to do with Astrogate in the first place, were punished by proxy.

To say that this isn’t fair to the Mets organization that they had to be caught up in this scandal is an understatement. In fact, the fact that the Mets had to be dragged into this is an absolute travesty in and of itself. However, blame needs to be assigned for this mess.

Before we begin, let’s get the elephant in the room out of the way. Yes, obviously it would have been better if a. the Astros had never cheated in the first place and, depending on who you supported in the managerial search, b. the Mets paid Joe Girardi what he wanted, but obviously those matters came to pass and are no longer relevant in this piece.

Carlos Beltran and The Media

Part of the blame for this lands on Beltran, but the media is just as responsible for crafting the narrative that led to Beltran’s firing. When the scandal broke, the media predictably asked Beltran about his role in the scandal, to which he lied.

For someone who played in New York for more than seven years and saw the rise of social media, Beltran’s decision to lie was incredibly dumb and shortsighted. Even if he was in a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation where he would constantly be second-guessed because of his association with the Astros, Beltran could have easily said “No comment”.

By lying, Beltran invited the media to create an even bigger controversy. One where the Mets knowingly hired a liar and a cheat to run their team, one where the ethics of baseball were second to winning. Never mind that the team was a month and a half away from spring training, the prominent story would be how morally and competitively compromised the Mets were with Beltran as manager.

If there’s one thing to be said about the New York media, it’s that if they smell blood, they will attack. Beltran was the easy target in Astrogate because he was there and however big his role was, he had to know that he would inevitably be questioned.

Still, for the media to act as it did, with pearl-clutching and questions about integrity when the Mickey Callaway incident happened months earlier, one has to wonder how much of an angle they were going for with an Astrogate story

Even if it had amounted to nothing and Beltran had not been canned to save face, would the media have left the story alone? Or would they still pursue a narrative that because Beltran was part of a team accused of cheating, he was no longer trustworthy? Regardless of whether or not that narrative would have been produced, Beltran’s stupidity only served to stoke the flames and led to a major blow-up.

The Mets Organization

And last, but not least, we come to the Mets organization. Between Fred and Jeff Wilpon, Brodie Van Wagenen, and even Jessica Mendoza, the Mets organization completely bungled the situation with Beltran.

Van Wagenen insisted that the Mets heard the news about Astrogate from The Athletic, and while one can be skeptical as to whether or not it’s true, let’s play devil’s advocate and assume he was right. As the scandal grew far-reaching and ultimately was laid at Beltran’s feet, one had to wonder why the Mets didn’t immediately come to his defense?

Even if Wilpon or Van Wagenen had said something along the lines of “We are aware of the allegations concerning Beltran in Houston, however, we believe that they will not have any major bearing on him managing the Mets.” Instead, after a deliberative process the Wilpons and Van Wagenen, citing public perception and organizational integrity, let Beltran go.

The amount of hypocrisy in this is deafening. Keep in mind, this is the same Mets organization that fired an employee for having a child out of wedlock. This is the same organization whose owners were found guilty of knowingly defrauding investors in the Madoff Ponzi scheme. These are the same owners that have used the Mets as a means to pay off their debts to their creditors at the expense of the on-field product.

For the organization to suddenly care about public perception and integrity is incredibly disingenuous. Let’s remember that the “Fire Beltran” narrative came from the media, not the fanbase. Public mistrust in journalism further adds to the case that the Mets organization should not have fed the media’s bloodlust. However, Fred Wilpon values journalists and social opinions more than his paying customers.

In the end, LOLMets or That’s so Mets was going to happen either way. Keep Beltran, the narrative that the Mets didn’t care about the integrity of the game and hired a known cheater and liar persists, creating a distraction. Let Beltran go, the organization is perceived as spineless and willing to capitulate to media demands. There was no way the team was going to leave this cleanly, so for them to react the way they did was an absolute mishandling on their part.

So, who is to blame?

Ultimately, no one entity is entirely to blame. Major League Baseball and Rob Manfred should be lambasted by the Mets organization for putting them in a tough position, the Mets should be eviscerated for being incredibly hypocritical and weak-willed, the media should be criticized for creating a toxic narrative, and Beltran should be blamed for being a complete idiot.

Regardless of who you feel is deserving of the most blame, it boils down to one simple point: This should have never happened. Everyone involved should be ashamed of how much this has escalated and gotten completely out of control.

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If you’re a Mets fan, you have every right to be angry.