MLB Won’t Allow Carlos Beltran To “Tell The Truth”
With Alex Cora and the Boston Red Sox now agreeing to part ways, that leaves Carlos Beltran as the only individual named in the Astros investigation who is still employed in baseball. This means the heat is going to be ratcheted up on him.
Already, we have heard calls for Beltran to be fired by the Mets. We’re also seeing the media call for Beltran to come clean and tell the truth.
John Harper of SNY, who once advocated the Mets sign Jose Reyes, called Beltran’s involvement a bad look for the Mets, and he called for Beltran to correct his lies.
Ken Davidoff of the New York Post wrote an article saying Beltran should tell the truth and “it’s in everyone’s best interests to watch Beltran face the music before rendering final judgment.”
This is a sampling of the swirling opinions about Beltran’s involvement and his prior statements to reporters disavowing knowledge of the Astros sign stealing measures.
Specifically, Beltran texted Joel Sherman of the New York Post, “I’m not aware of that camera. We were studying the opposite team every day.” With all due respect to Andy Martino of SNY, it is hard to believe he wasn’t lying when he said this.
That said, it is possible he didn’t lie, but at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. The media believes Beltran lied to them and their brethren, and they are owed a correction.
To be fair, the reporters have a very valid point, especially since it is their job to seek and report the truth. However, the problem is it appears Beltran isn’t permitted to say anything at all.
— Los Angeles Dodgers (@Dodgers) January 14, 2020
As we see with the Los Angeles Dodgers, Major League Baseball has requested the Dodgers and all of baseball “not to comment on any wrongdoings during the 2017 World Series.”
As reported by Jeff Passan of ESPN, “Multiple ownership-level sources told ESPN that dissatisfaction with the penalties had emerged following a conference call with Manfred, in which he explained how the Astros would be disciplined, then told teams to keep their thoughts to themselves.”
Effectively speaking, for better or worse, Major League Baseball has placed a gag order on everyone. If that is truly the case, it is eminently possible, how could Beltrán possibly speak to the press about his involvement?
More to the point, why would Beltrán potentially incur Major League Baseball’s wrath by speaking at a time when Baseball very clearly wants no one talking about the scandal?
At this moment, Beltran is really awaiting direction from Major League Baseball, and more importantly, direction from the New York Mets. Keep in mind, if the Mets wanted Beltran to speak, he would’ve already spoken.
In the end, the calls for Beltran are all well and good, but at the end of the day, the Mets manager cannot speak unless otherwise directed by Mets ownership and permitted by Major League Baseball. Until such time, we have to sit and wait until he is permitted to say what apparently needs to be said. When that’ll happen is anyone’s guess.
A gag order on Beltran? I don’t see any evidence of that. And whether there is or not, he should break it or explain why he’s silent since report’s release.
Furthermore, nowhere in Manfred’s report did he state Beltran did any sign stealing using technology during games. Beltran previously denied he cheated, and unless there’s evidence to the contrary, he’s innocent as a man with a career long reputation of integrity.
Beltran now ought to step up to the plate and speak to the public, answer questions. Let’s get this out in the open rather than reading things into the report that were never stated.
Aside from the citations in the article, I’d note the Boston Red Sox just had a press conference where they said they were complying with MLB’s directive not to comment on the investigations.
I guess this is 26. So if Cespedes is healthy, does Dom get the bad news?
Roster:
Nimmo cf
Alonso
McNeil 3b
Conforto
Davis lf
Ramos
Cano
Rosario
Bench: Dom, Guillorme, Nido, Marisnick, Lowrie
deGrom
Syndergaard
Stroman
Matz
Porcello
Betances, Lugo, Familia, Diaz,
Wacha, Wilson, Gsellman, Brach
I’m assuming Lowrie can’t play?
@metsdaddy A not unreasonable assumption. That would solve the Cespedes-Dom problem.
And if both Lowrie and Cespedes aren’t on the “26 man” (that’s going to take some getting used to) I suppose they could go with a 3rd catcher and hope to rest Ramos as much as possible in the early going without having to forgo his pinch-hitting skills. Or they could use the 26th slot for a speedster on the bases if the team figures it’s a little slow and just doesn’t have anyone worth using as a ninth man out of the pen–ideally a speedster with a great glove, but a pure pinch runner would be an interesting decision.
Maybe Drew Smith as #26, though, if he’s healthy? He had a great minor league career, he’s still young, and I think he has a great future out of the pen assuming he’s fully recovered from TJ.
With the new 26 man roster rules, you can’t carry more than 13 pitcher
@metsdaddy – ah, thanks for the info. Wonder how they’ll categorize Ohtani.
I believe they have to declare before each game