Was Carlos Beltran a New York Mets manager?

Was Carlos Beltran a manager of the New York Mets? In the eyes of the team, the answer to that question is, yes. Is this right?

Carlos Beltran never had the chance to manage the New York Mets as he stepped down from the position in early January due to his involvement in the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal. Even with that said, the Mets will consider Carlos Beltran as their 22nd manager with a record of 0-0.

Luis Rojas, the manager who has been named as successor, was announced as the 23rd manager in team history. This is a small detail in Mets’ history, but it is one that I find baffling. How can Carlos Beltran be considered a manager even though he never managed a game?

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Maybe this is the start of something special, an odd moment where the record books will show the team employing three managers from 2019 to the start of 2020, which eventually led to Brodie Van Wagenen finally finding his man.

I believe in Luis Rojas and it saddened me to see that my childhood hero, Carlos Beltran, was not going to be the manager.  With that said, I believe that the details of the situation don’t warrant Beltran’s inclusion in Mets’ manager lore.

First, it will always connect the New York Mets to the fall out from the Astros sign-stealing scandal. If moving on from him was meant to distance themselves from the issue, Beltran’s inclusion in Mets’ record books sort of cements the issues from this offseason.

We will always be left wondering if the club did not do enough due diligence on the situation prior to hiring Beltran. At the time of his hiring, the main issues had not risen to the surface in mainstream media, but it was clear that the Astros were being investigated.

Maybe the Mets missed something?

Also, any path back to the Mets in a future position will also be muddled with an asterisk marking his “stint” as manager during this offseason. Beltran is very well-liked within the Mets organization and it is not crazy to think that he will someday return to the club in some role.

The embattled former Mets’ manager will just have to work to clear his reputation and connection to the Astros scandal. If he eventually does, Beltran will always be on his second stint as a coach for the team.

On one hand, you can say that Mets left the door open for an eventual return as they could have wiped the organization of any hint of involvement. The only other similar situation came with the Arizona Diamondbacks and another former New York Mets player.

Wally Backman was hired as the Diamondbacks manager in November 2004 and four days after the announcement, the Diamondbacks fired Backman over revelations of past legal and financial troubles. He is not included in the Diamondbacks record books as a manager and Backman never returned to the club. In Beltran’s case, he will remain a former Mets’ manager while also remaining the first Latino manager in Mets’ history. Luis Rojas will become the second Latino manager in team history.

In the end, these are small details that fans should forget about if the New York Mets win some games in 2020, but it still is an odd thing to think about. It is a shame that an Astros’ problem became a Mets’ problem. We will see how this season gets remembered, as fans hope for a return to the playoffs. All in all, 2020 has already gotten off to a memorable start.