Mets manager Carlos Beltran may be in hot water after a report said he helped plan the Astros’ alleged illegal sign-stealing system during the 2017 season.
Beltran, who on Tuesday told The Post’s Joel Sherman that Houston stole signs legally without the aid of cameras, was said to have played a key role in forging the system alongside current Red Sox manager Alex Cora, sources told The Athletic.
Beltran was the team’s designated hitter during the Astros’ championship season, while Cora was a bench coach alongside current manager AJ Hinch. The three will almost certainly be interviewed by MLB’s Department of Investigations (DOI), according to the website.
MLB prohibits teams from using electronics to steal signs, and the DOI is also slated to speak with current and former Astros employees, including players.
“I’m not aware of that camera,” Beltran told The Post. “We were studying the opposite team every day.”
The camera, former Houston pitcher Mike Fiers told The Athletic in a report published Tuesday, was in center field in Minute Maid Park and was used to convey catcher signs to hitters so they would know what pitches were coming.
“We took a lot of pride studying pitchers [on] the computer,” Beltran told The Post. “That is the only technology that I use and understand. … It was fun seeing guys get to the ballpark to look for little details.”
Commissioner Rob Manfred is expected to discuss baseball’s investigation of the Astros, which also will cover the organization’s conduct during the Brandon Taubman scandal last month, at next week’s owners’ meetings.
What type of punishment the Astros could face may hinge on when exactly the team’s alleged sign-stealing began in relation to a Red Sox sign-stealing scandal that same year.
On Sept. 15, 2017, MLB announced the Red Sox would be fined an undisclosed amount for utilizing Apple Watches in their dugout to swipe signals from the Yankees a month before. The Yankees paid a smaller undisclosed amount for improper use of a dugout phone, and in a statement, Manfred disclosed that all teams had been notified of the following: “Future violations of this type will be subject to more serious sanctions, including the possible loss of draft picks.”
Additional reporting by Joel Sherman and Ken Davidoff