Yankees undermined by two former players in Astros sign-stealing scandal

Beltran rightfully fired by Mets

In the report, Manfred explains that he decided not to name any players and punish them due to the complications surrounding present and past players and their uncertain level of involvement in the electronic sign-stealing ploy. Such determinations would require a lot more digging and would take a lot longer to determine.

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Yet, Beltran is the only ballplayer singled out in the report. This and the wording of the text strongly suggests that Beltran was more than a passive actor in the ruse. In fact, he may have been one of the ring leaders with Cora of the entire illegal sign-stealing operation.

Like McCann, the Yankees treated Beltran extremely well. He received a lucrative contract from the Bombers in 2013. Despite this, Beltran still participated in the sign-stealing debacle, undermining the Yankees (and other clubs and other players). And when his playing days were over, he was graciously hired to be Cashman’s special advisor.

You can bet that Beltran would not have been offered this position had Cashman known about his active involvement in the electronic sign-stealing scheme by the ‘Stros, which ended up hurting the Yanks (and other clubs).

As far as the bigger picture for Beltran is concerned, his active involvement in Houston’s sign-stealing debacle may derail his chances of being elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame. Given the serious nature of the crime and his level of involvement, voters may view him as a cheater and not vote for him. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.