Carlos Beltran and Carlos Correa, teammates with the World Champion Houston Astros of 2017, could be teaming up again with the New York Yankees – the team the Astros knocked out that year in an American League Championship Series tainted in controversy.
Beltran, who completed his 20-year playing career with those Astros, has already joined the Yankees as a broadcaster for the ballclub’s YES Network.
Correa hit a career-best .315 for Houston in 2017 but is now a free agent who would fill the biggest void on the Yankees roster – if the team can forgive him for his association with the scandal-plagued Astros.
That team was accused of employing an electronic sign-stealing scheme during post-season play, leading to the one-year suspensions of manager A.J. Hinch, bench coach Alex Cora, and general manager Jeff Luhnow.
Beltran, the only player implicated in the scandal, had been named manager of the New York Mets when the the story broke in January 2020 but never managed a game, as he was let go after 77 days.
Hinch resurfaced as manager of the Detroit Tigers last year while Cora had two terms – interrupted by the punishment imposed by Commissioner of Baseball Rob Manfred – as manager of the Boston Red Sox. Luhnow, like Hinch, was fired by the Astros, who were also slapped with a $5 million fine by Major League Baseball.
When the Astros again beat the Yankees in the AL Championship Series of 2019, New York players were vocal in their suspicions about illegal sign-stealing. When it returned to the World Series last year, Houston was managed by Dusty Baker, a veteran pilot with a reputation for restoring order in difficult situations.
The Astros lost to the Atlanta Braves in six games without any hint of shenanigans. Beltran, who turns 45 in April, has previous Yankees ties. He hit 56 home runs during a three-year stint as an outfielder with the team from 2014-2016 and served as a special advisor in 2019 prior to joining the Mets.
A nine-time All-Star who won three Gold Gloves in a career that lasted 20 years, Beltran will be the top newcomer to the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot next year. It remains to be seen whether voting members of the Baseball Writers Association of America will treat him as a pariah similar to Barry Bonds, Roger Clemens, Sammy Sosa, or Curt Schilling, all of whom failed to receive 75 per cent of the vote during their maximum 10 years on the ballot.
With his new-found television exposure, however, Beltran is virtually certain to receive future consideration as a major-league manager. He will do 36 games for YES, where he succeeds former pitcher David Cone, now with ESPN Sunday Night Baseball, in the booth.
Beltran interviewed for the job as manager of the Yankees before the team picked Aaron Boone after the 2017 season – and before the scandal broke.
He continues to run a baseball academy for high school students, emphasizing academic achievement as well as athletic ability, in his native Puerto Rico.
Correa is also from Puerto Rico. His resume already includes a Rookie of the Year trophy, Gold Glove, Platinum Glove, and World Series ring (the 2017 world title is the only one in Astros history).
A .277 career hitter coming off a 26-homer campaign, Correa is a spectacular fielder fully capable of plugging the biggest hole in the Bronx since the retirement of Hall of Famer Derek Jeter. But he comes with a huge price-tag – and one that the Yankees might wish to avoid with several young and talented shortstops ripening in their minor-league system.
The Astros paid Correa $11.7 million last year but he could more than double that figure in the wake of mega-deals given to Corey Seager by the Texas Rangers (10 years, $325 million) this winter and both Francisco Lindor (10 years, $341 million with the New York Mets) and Fernando Tatis, Jr. before last season (14 years, $340 million with the San Diego Padres).
