"We didn’t feel that we were really crossing the line there" - Carlos Beltran, the alleged godfather of Houston Astros cheating scandal, opens up about the controversial 2017 World Series

The Houston Astros have faced several consequences after being caught cheating over the last decade. After being found guilty of stealing signs, the consequences for those in positions of power were severe. The Astros organization was fined $5 million and lost their first and second round picks for the 2020 and 2021 draft. General manager Jeff Lunhow was fired and has yet to get a job in baseball since. Manager AJ Hinch was fired from the Astros and banned for a year while bench coach Alex Cora, who had led the Boston Red Sox to a World Series title, was also suspended for a year. While the Houston Astros players were given immunity from punishment due to the negotiations of the Major League Baseball Players Union, one player was left out in the purgatory, Carlos Beltran.

Carlos Beltran was identified as the ringleader behind the Houston Astros' scandal

Although Beltran was a player on the World Series winning squad, he was credited with being the ringleader of the sign-stealing scandal that included using live video feed from the ballpark cameras and relaying the pitching signals to hitters through drumming on trash cans. His involvement cost him his first managerial job with the New York Mets before it even started, and has been rumored to taint his Hall of Fame case.

NLCS - St Louis Cardinals v San Francisco Giants - Game One

Beltran is being used a scapegoat by Major League Baseball. In an era where known steroid users such as David Ortiz are being elected to the Hall of Fame and the New York Yankees managed to keep documents of alleged cheating of their own secret during the same time period of the Houston Astros run, it seems that Rob Manfred found his perfect target, a man who was no longer protected by the MLB players' union, a man whose entire Major League Baseball career was filled with excellence, from numerous Gold Gloves in one of the most demanding defensive positions of center field. He was one of the most gifted offensive centerfielders in the game, and he managed to play at a consistently high level from both sides of the plate en-route to having the fourth-most home runs by a switch hitter in the history of Major League Baseball.

Major League Baseball willingly overlooked sign-stealing for years. Now, as an easy scapegoat, Beltran stands as the lonliest man in team sports, accepting whatever consequences come his way.