When the Padres were putting together their new coaching staff this winter, the club had some talks with Carlos Beltran about a possible job, The New York Post’s Ken Davidoff reports. “The talks never advanced to anything serious,” either on the coaching front, or towards Beltran’s preference for an advisory position within the front office (similar to the role Beltran held with the Yankees in 2019). Beltran has yet to work in any official baseball capacity since the Mets abruptly fired him as manager in January 2020, following the revelations of Beltran’s involvement in the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
San Diego is the first team known to explore hiring Beltran for any position, which does perhaps present a bit of a icebreaker towards his possible return with some team, though Davidoff opines that it doesn’t seem Beltran has interest in coaching. That could be an obstacle if Beltran eventually wants to get back into managing, considering that Beltran has still never officially managed or coached at any level of pro ball; the Mets fired him before he ever led the dugout for a single game. It remains to be seen exactly what Beltran’s next step might be, as Davidoff notes that the longtime star outfielder has moved his family back to Puerto Rico, and Beltran has the financial security “to be selective in his return — or to simply never return” if he so chooses.
More notes from the coaching and organizational ranks…
- Earlier this week, Deesha Thosar of The New York Daily News reported that the Mets were lining up “an exciting, headline-grabbing hire” as their next bench coach. In her latest update, Thosar reports that Eric Chavez was that planned major name, as the Mets talked with the longtime A’s star about the bench coaching role before eventually settling on Chavez as the team’s new hitting coach. As one might expect, hiring Chavez involved “a tricky negotiation process with the Yankees,” considering the Yankees only just hired Chavez as their assistant hitting coach in December.
- In regards to the bench coach role, the Mets are now aiming towards hiring “a younger, analytics-driven individual,” Thosar reports. It will make for an interesting complement to veteran manager Buck Showalter, providing something of an old school/new school approach between Showalter and his next chief lieutenant. Reds game planning/outfield coach Jeff Pickler is one of the names under consideration for the Mets’ bench coach job, according to The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal (Twitter link).
- Reds scout Bruce Manno is retiring after close to 45 years in pro baseball, MLB Network’s Jon Heyman reports (Twitter link). Manno has been a familiar face in many front offices over the years, working with the Blue Jays, Brewers, Orioles, Cardinals, Braves, and Reds in various capacities, including working as the Cards’ director of player development during the club’s 2006 World Series season. Manno worked as an assistant GM with both the Brewers (1987-94) and Braves (2007-14), and his time in Atlanta helped pave the way towards their 2021 title. Freddie Freeman was drafted, developed, and extended during Manno’s tenure, and Ronald Acuna and Ozzie Albies joined the organization on their initial amateur contracts. (Manno discussed the Acuna/Albies deals with David O’Brien of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution back in 2018, with Manno praising the work of then-director of international scouting Johnny Almarez). We at MLB Trade Rumors congratulate Manno on a fine career, and we wish him the best in his retirement.
Pairing a younger analytic type guy with an established old school manager seems like a very good idea!
Yes, same with the pitching coaches, hitting coaches and fielding coaches. You need BOTH because I highly doubt anyone who specializes in sitting at a computer is also going to understand or communicate coaching physical mechanics to major league ball players.
San Diego should consider some trash can banging after how awful last year was.
Always gotta be somebody to bring this junk back up! Let it go man! Over, done with!
It’s never over ⚾️!
….till we say it’s over!
Had the Astros players been punished and stripped of their bogus championship, maybe it would be over. But Manfred’s bungling of the matter assured that there’d be no closure.
Cora & Hinch are back, like it or not, Beltran, too, will return. While I wish these men well, I would not employ any of the three on the heels of the Astros scandal. But, MLB has an erratic manner of handing-out-consequences.
Everyone deserves second chances.
… “deserves” is misleading. I believe in accountability as a measure of character.
It is, and if they take accountability for a mistake and own up to it, they deserve a second chance.
By several accounts, Beltran was the prime instigator of the scheme and he wasn’t suspended. His only punishment came from the Mets, who fired him. Manfred did nothing to him.
Shoeless Joe Jackson, whose play on the field would easily qualify him for the Hall, was banned for life, even though his stats in the Black Sox series were stellar. Clearly, he didn’t throw those games.
MLB has a genius for screwing things up. Judge Landis’s punishments were far too harsh, and Manfred’s were an insult to the players and fans of 29 other teams.
Second chances need to be earned. They shouldn’t be handed out like candy by some bleeding heart.
“Earned” – exactly, SD. The idea that, regardless of the circumstances, a second chance is deserved is, again, misleading. MLB should have brought the hammer down on these guys. What did Cora do to earn his rehire in Boston? All he did was meet with some Red Sox lawyers, devise a plan, a public statement, then he waited at home free of financial strain or required punishment. A year off. That’s a vacation, not penance. Cora knew full-well he’d be rehired in Boston.
I agree, the Braves GM gets a Lifetime ban for doing something that was wrong but others had gotten away with it in the past. These Astros clearly cheated the competition on their way to a World Series Title and showed zero respect for the integrity of the game. All they got was a slap on the wrist. They each should have received a five year ban, at least!
I actually feel like Hinch was pretty remorseful for turning a blind eye.
If you think the Braves never cheated…
I guess that makes it alright? Really? Because, “He did it too?”
Well in this case it’s more like “everyone did it too” in terms of breaking rules to get an advantage
No, “everyone” didn’t do it. That is a fact.
The whole league is trying to get an advantage. Whether it’s steroids, corked bats, Vaseline on the ball or whatever, it’s prevalent. You think your Padres never tried any of this? It’s more than just trash cans. What’ll you do when your teams player gets caught? What the Astros did is not worse than a thousand other things going on, some we know of, many others we don’t.
If my padres have been trying to cheat; they’ve been doing a terrible job.
Heh
Getting an “advantage” is not the same as “cheating.” You can keep your cynical false dichotomy if you think it excuses your own lack of ethics and integrity. In reality, it doesn’t. I don’t want people with that attitude anywhere near my team.
Not sure what your point is. Is using steroids or corking your bat not cheating? You’re making an odd distinction.
Cheating is cheating. There is no distinction.
The fans had their opportunity to publicly castigate the Astros in 2021. Beltran got fired from the Mets and lost out on that opportunity. Cora and Hinch have turned a page. The 2017 Astros season and championship will always be tainted, but it’s time to move on.
I still feel like there are some fans demanding that their title needs to be stript away. But I mean, 90% of baseball fans aren’t going to see it as a 100% legitimate championship. Almost everyone know it’s a tainted championship and won’t treat it the same as other WS wins.
I don’t get the idea of “stripping” the championship. If someone doesn’t think it’s legit, fine, but making it official changes nothing. They still won. Whether there’s a trophy in Cooperstown or not or whatever changes nothing.
When the steroid abuse of players like A-Rod, Bonds, etc started to come out around the early 2000’s I felt hurt and turned off by the game. I was a lot younger back than and took it personally. When I first heard about the Astros I felt nothing. I couldn’t care less at the time and feel the same way today. Morality in baseball went out the window for me a long time ago. Quite frankly I’m sick of hearing about the Astros cheating scandal.
Charles Barkley once said “I am not a role model. Just because i dunk a Basketball doesn’t mean i should raise your kids”
At the time those words were considered inflammatory but over the years and especially as fans mature you realize just how true a statement it actually was/is
Beltran like anyone else deserves a second chance. Maybe climbing the coaching ranks instead of being handed the managerial reigns right away will be better for him
@Fw-, I understand why you’re sick of hearing about it, as I am about steroids. Neither will go away, however, anymore than the 1919 Black Sox scandal will or Pete Rose’s gambling issues leading to his placement on the ineligible list. Steroids and the 2017 Astros are part of the game’s history now.
I have no problem with Beltran returning to the game. Both managers are back, none of the players punished, Beltran deserves a chance too.
Barkley is a smart man. I was flabbergasted by the number of supposedly educated people who criticized him for actually knowing the vast difference between a “sports hero” and a “role model.” They were/are ignorant.
As long as any of those players remain active they’ll hear it. And as long as the astros insist on hanging that phony banner they’ll hear it. Baseball fans never let stuff like this go.
They should learn because their teams are only a Mike Fiers away from having the skeletons shared with the public. I think most logical people understand the Astros were just the fall team for a league-wide issue.
Wish the best and some rest to Manno. Did some incredible work bringing the talent to ATL.
Chavez leaving for the Mets could open the door for Beltran to fill the Asst hitting coach role in NYY
They could potentially create a hybrid role where he’s an advisor to the front office who also works with the players. Chavez’s role seem pretty loose with the Yankees, so they could do similar with Beltran. He basically needs to get his foot back in the door, so he might need to be a bit flexible. It’s really to his advantage, especially as he’s coming up on next year’s HOF ballot. Going off into the dark and not talking, as he has so far, won’t help his cause.
Good luck to Bruce Manno. Great career job well done
I would like to see Howard Michael Johnson as a hitting coach.
He held that position in Seattle.
Former Met switch hitter. Baseball history has proven from managers on down you don’t have to be a HOF’er to be a good coach and that goes for Chavez as well.
Yankee offense hasn’t been the same since Beltran departed as their video coach, prior to 2020.
The “mystery” bench coach was Eric Chavez. The Mets discussed hiring him as bench coach before settling on hitting coach. He was the “headline grabbing” hire
It figures that Preller would consider hiring a known cheat. After all, “birds of a feather …”
So what do you do when you find out your team cheated? Where will this hyper-righteous crusade lead you then?
If you had any integrity or ethics of your own, you wouldn’t have to ask that question. Sad.
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