Yankees: 3 dream manager candidates after Aaron Boone gets fired

1. Carlos Beltran

Oooooooh boy oh boy.

When Carlos Beltran lost his job as manager of the New York Mets back in 2020 before never managing an inning of big-league baseball, it made sense. After all, the Astros’ scandal was entirely toxic, and Beltran was purported to be the ringleader from the players’ side of things, alongside Alex Cora on the bench.

The players were granted immunity and couldn’t be punished, but Beltran was now in leadership, and could receive a sentence commensurate with Cora’s and AJ Hinch’s. Unfortunately, we never got to find out if his unique ability to perceive nuance on the baseball field could come in handy; theoretically, that type of intuition is exactly what Aaron Boone lacks.

So, let’s cut to the present day. Cora’s back at his old job. Hinch is back — and winning — at a new job. Nothing ever happened, it would seem. So … why, exactly, would it be unsavory to hire Beltran, again?

He’s already worked with the Yankees at a high level, leading to the infamous clip where Cora seemingly winked at their sordid past during the London Series, while his Sox got their brakes beaten off. Beltran has always been painted as acutely perceptive — and yes, clearly that involved bending the rules in Houston before moving on to outright snapping the rules in half.

Cora’s gotten endless positive press for his role in Boston’s turnaround, though. Hinch has gotten praised for leading Year 1 of a faster-than-expected rebuild in Detroit. Why, exactly, does Beltran deserve eternal damnation if his cohorts are getting awards instead of scarlet letters?

Yankees: 4 things the Bombers can learn from small-market teams

Some smaller-market teams have spent much less money than the Yankees and have played better than them. So, maybe the Yanks can learn something from them?