Third manager falls in MLB scandal

The growing sign-stealing scandal led a third major league baseball team to sack its manager on Thursday. The New York Mets parted ways with new hire Carlos Beltrán before he even managed his first game. Beltrán played on the 2017 Houston Astros team that won the World Series while electronically stealing opposing catchers’ signals to pitchers. Houston fired general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch on Monday. The Boston Red Sox then fired manager Alex Cora, who was a bench coach on the 2017 Astros team. An investigation into possible sign-stealing by the 2018 World Series champion Red Sox is ongoing.

How did Beltrán respond? He accepted responsibility for his involvement in the scandal. “As a veteran player on the team, I should’ve recognized the severity of the issue and truly regret the actions that were taken,” Beltrán said in a statement to ESPN. “I am a man of faith and integrity, and what took place did not demonstrate those characteristics that are so very important to me and my family. I’m very sorry.”

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read editor in chief Marvin Olasky’s report on the pressure on Christian baseball players to conform to the culture.