Former New York Yankees outfielder Carlos Beltran, who played, among others with the crosstown rivals New York Mets and recent foes Houston Astros, could be nearing his return to baseball. However, it will apparently not be as a manager or coach.
He has been on exile since early 2020: he was appointed as the Mets manager in late 2019, but was separated from his position in early 2020 after it was revealed he was one of the masterminds behind the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal in 2017, back when he was a player.
After the Mets opted not to go ahead with the hire of Beltran as manager, he has been away from organized baseball ever since. But the YES Network, which covers the Yankees, is interested in the former center fielder as an analysts and has him high on its priority list, according to Andrew Marchand of the New York Post.
If there is a season, of course, YES Network is looking at four candidates to help fill in for David Cone, who took a job on a national scale at ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball and won’t be covering too many Yankees games, and the retiring Ken Singleton.
Per Marchand, “Cone is now expected to do 55-60 Yankee games this upcoming season. Cone called 90 games last year with no travel, but in a normal season did in the 70 range.”
The Yankees’ network has other candidates
Former Yankees players Cameron Maybin, Jeff Nelson and, already in-house John Flaherty, are the other candidates, per The Post.
Michael Kay will return as the primary play-by-play broadcaster and will be backed up by Ryan Ruocco, with Paul O’Neill also returning.
Beltran is widely praised around the industry for his baseball knowledge, expertise, and communication skills. He was a reporters darling, with precise, insightful quotes, and makes sense as an analyst for the Yankees – associated network.
It could actually be a good opportunity to re-launch a once-promising managerial career in baseball. AJ Hinch and Alex Cora, also associated with the sign-stealing scheme, have returned to the dugout, so Beltran should, too.