Carlos Beltran Conspiracy Theories for Your Consideration
The biggest baseball stories over the last two months surround the electronic sign-stealing scandal that vilified the Houston Astros (and, potentially, the Boston Red Sox). One fallout victim of this scandal was Carlos Beltran, hired as manager of the New York Mets about a week before the sign-stealing scandal was first reported. A few weeks ago, the Mets and Beltran parted ways. It hasn’t been reported who had more authority in that decision, but here’s one theory: What if Carlos Beltran stepped down to cover up for somebody else?
And who could that “somebody else” be? Thus, the Carlos Beltran conspiracy theories.
Covering up for the players is a likely possibility. No hard evidence has been revealed yet, but we have heard Josh Reddick claim a suspected buzzer or microphone spotted on his body in photos was actually confetti, and Jose Altuve allegedly say “don’t rip off my jersey” leading us to believe there was a device underneath. Whether those two were the leaders of the operation or not, they were certainly beneficiaries. Altuve’s home-road splits in the 2017 postseason were especially evident: He hit .472 with six home runs and 12 RBIs at home, vs. .143, one home run, and two RBI on the road. Looking at the whole lineup, Yuli Gurriel was the only player to have a higher road batting average than at home during that postseason.
Being that Carlos Beltran only joined the team that season, I doubt he would’ve led such a sophisticated operation, as this is something likely planned a year or two in advance. He might’ve been a beneficiary if he got to wear the buzzer for a game, but I doubt he was the leader of the operation. With that information, I think he could’ve been covering for a player who was an Astro for a while; someone who could have facilitated this operation.
Another Carlos Beltran conspiracy possibility: He could be protecting ownership involved.
This kind of operation would appear to be, at least in some capacity, coordinated by the front office. While Major League Baseball didn’t specifically suspend any executives, there was evidence of messages and signals in the Astros’ team offices and owners box regarding the center-field camera man operation. Also, when it comes to financing technology required for this kind of operation, while the players may have facilitated it, it seems possible “others” may have funded at least some of the buzzers, microphones and cameras involved.
With an operation that sophisticated, with that much technology involved, odds are it started when all many of the young Astros players were making less than $1 million annually. So if a player was leading this operation, Carlos Beltran and his deep pockets could be an easy target. However, the ownership group still has more money than any player would have, so if they were primarily involved, it’s highly plausible to see them purchasing the technology involved.
The last Carlos Beltran conspiracy theory: It’s possible Beltran is protecting the managerial image of A.J. Hinch so the skipper could potentially get another job in the future. It might have looked bad for Hinch’s future employment chances if Beltran was able to manage another team amidst this scandal, sending a message that Hinch was more responsible than Beltran.
Major League Baseball suspended both Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for a year (before ownership quickly dismissed them), and if Carlos Beltran stayed with the Mets, odds are MLB could have done the same to him, too, following a deeper-dive investigation. Again, we don’t know Beltran’s level of primary involvement, but odds are he could have endured a penalty by Commissioner Rob Manfred. However, if he didn’t, and he kept managing, it could’ve looked bad, especially in the New York media. And if it looked bad for a player who had only joined the Astros in the 2017 season, it would have looked even worse for their manager and general manager.
Having a fall-guy in Carlos Beltran allows baseball to move beyond this debacle as quickly as possible, without the sport being under constant scrutiny during the season.
Overall, this is just a hunch. However, Carlos Beltran getting an opportunity to manage for the first time, it would take a lot to pass up an opportunity like this, especially in a large-scale New York market. Why he stepped down without even managing a game leads me to believe something more hasn’t been revealed yet, whether it is a specific suspect or more evidence of ways the Astros could’ve cheated to win the 2017 World Series Championship.
I expect more evidence will emerge during spring training and throughout the 2020 MLB season. For now, with no players or ownership executives suspended, there is a strong possibility Carlos Beltran could’ve stepped down to protect whoever the real facilitator of this electronic sign-stealing operation may be.
