Carlos Beltran, who was named in baseball's report as an initiator of the Houston Astros' scheme to steal signs from other teams, has lost his job as manager of the New York Mets—before ever managing a game. The Mets and Beltran "agreed to mutually part ways," the team said in a statement Thursday. MLB issued its report Monday on the scandal, saying that the effort to steal signs was driven by players. Beltran, who was in his final season, was the only player named in the report but was not disciplined. "I've always taken pride in being a leader and doing things the right way, and in this situation, I failed," Beltran said in a statement to ESPN. "As a veteran player on the team, I should've recognized the severity of the issue and truly regret the actions that were taken."
Beltran, who was hired last month, is the third manager to be removed in the fallout. He would have been the Mets' first Latino manager, per NBC. Analysts differ on whether anyone fired this week will have an MLB job again, per ESPN. Beltran, 42, who was a nine-time All-Star as a player, said Thursday that he hopes to be able to return to baseball someday. His career earnings were about $222 million. (The former coach named in MLB's report as starting the cheating with Beltran also lost his managerial job.)