Let’s face it: As a species, we’re largely a bunch of wimps. Or, to put it more politely, we tend to be conflict-averse.
So if Carlos Beltran, in his new gig for the YES Network, stands on the Yankee Stadium field as the home team takes batting practice, I’m betting that the first encounter between him and Aaron Judge will start with a bro hug.
Multiple sources told The Post that Beltran’s soft return from baseball exile does not require him to address his role in the 2017 Astros-sign stealing scandal, Major League Baseball’s January 2020 confirmation of which compelled the Mets to quickly dismiss him as their manager before he so much as welcomed pitchers and catchers to Port St. Lucie.
Hey, if the Yankees, one of the ’17 Astros’ primary victims, not to mention Beltran’s 2019 employers (before word emerged of the illicit activity) are willing to forgive and forget, then more power to them, and to him. Yet I do think some sort of public acknowledgment by Beltran — or even better, a willingness to answer questions about the matter — could serve as an effective icebreaker with both the Yankees and their fans.
Shoot, let YES get more bang for its bucks: Run a half-hour special on the regional sports network in which Beltran clears the air with Jack Curry, Meredith Marakovits or one of the company’s other broadcasters.
Because this scandal, one of the defining stories of the Judge era, lives on in The Bronx and throughout Major League Baseball, really. Remember how the Stadium turned into a cauldron of anger last May when the Astros made their long-awaited return to The Bronx? Or how Judge egged on the Astros at Minute Maid Park last July after going deep (only to see Jose Altuve return fire the next day)? And once Rob Manfred’s lockout ends, longtime Houston shortstop Carlos Correa, a Beltran protege, will resurface as the top free agent on the market, his obvious positional fit with the Yankees compromised by the sign-stealing history (as well as his financial aspirations, naturally).
Out of fairness, MLB did not discipline Beltran, 44, who found himself in the odd duality of player at the time of the infraction, which gave him immunity in the investigation, and management at the time of Manfred’s verdict, enabling the Mets to act upon the news. Also out of fairness, Beltran is not reassuming a role of authority as did Alex Cora with the Red Sox and A.J. Hinch with the Tigers. Both of those men returned as managers (Hinch managed the ’17 ‘Stros and Cora worked as his bench coach) after drawing yearlong suspensions from Manfred.
Rather than a necessity, as in those instances, a Beltran mea culpa on YES feels more like a luxury, one that could ease Beltran’s transition into the booth. If you’ve interacted with Beltran, you know he possesses huge upside potential for this gig — knowledge plus likeability plus eloquence plus humor — and could easily bolster a YES roster that lost Ken Singleton to retirement and will see David Cone’s role diminished by his jump to ESPN. Recognizing the elephant in the room would create a simpler path to considerable success.
Many of the Yankees players know Beltran, be it from his time in a Yankees uniform (2014-16) or his year as an adviser. It’s harder to demonize someone you know, which makes it easier to pick up where you left off without addressing what happened. On the other hand, the entire sport has found it tough to move on from this particular mess.
Beltran apologized on the day the Mets jettisoned him in January 2020, and maybe a simple reiterating of those sentiments at the top of his initial broadcast would suffice (and perhaps would be as far as Beltran, clearly not happy with the narrative of him as the scheme’s ringleader, would go). Just something to signify this undesired chapter in Beltran’s (still) Hall of Fame narrative.
Sure, he could do nothing and everyone could like it. The best route to everyone loving Beltran’s performance, though — and maybe re-energizing his viability as a big-league manager while we’re at it — involves talking about the past.