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Carlos Beltran was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame by the writers Tuesday night after a stellar career at the plate and being directly linked to the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal.
It was the scandal’s ties to the Astros’ 2017 World Series season that had baseball fans wondering why Beltran received enough votes to meet the threshold.
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Houston Astros designated hitter Carlos Beltran (15) is congratulated by his teammates after scoring in the fourth inning against the Detroit Tigers at Comerica Park on July 29, 2017. (Rick Osentoski/USA TODAY Sports)
They made themselves heard on social networks.
MLB’s report following its investigation into the Astros found that they broke rules regarding the use of electronics to steal signs en route to winning the 2017 World Series. In the report, Beltran was specifically mentioned as someone who played a major role in it. In fact, he was the only person mentioned in the report.
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New York Mets right fielder Carlos Beltran throws for the ball during the third inning of an MLB baseball game against the Arizona Diamondbacks on April 22, 2011 in New York. (AP Photo/Bill Kostroun, file)
This came as Beltran was about to begin his first season as an MLB manager, something he had wanted to do since he left the game as a player. But the Mets had to move on, eventually hiring Luis Rojas before he was replaced by Buck Showalter early last year.
No formal punishment was ever given to the players. The Astros organization was fined $5 million and lost its draft picks. Team owner Jeff Luhnow and then-manager AJ Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season – which was later affected by the coronavirus pandemic.
Beltran’s numbers at the plate speak for themselves.
He was a lifetime .279 hitter with 435 home runs, a nine-time All-Star and the 1999 American League Rookie of the Year. He played for the Astros, Mets, Kansas City Royals, San Francisco Giants, St. Louis Cardinals, New York Yankees and Texas Rangers. His career spanned 20 years.
Beltran received 84.2 percent of the vote, an increase of nearly 14 percent from last year’s poll. Yet no superstar linked to the MLB steroid scandal was elected.
Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets smiles during an introductory baseball press conference in New York on November 4, 2019. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig, file)
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He was elected along with former Atlanta Braves star Andruw Jones.
