SOMEONE OUT THERE IS DUMB ENOUGH TO DEFEND BROKEN BELTRAN

I hate cheating with a passion. I also hate it when people make a mistake, and don't own up to it right away. That is EXACTLY what Carlos Beltran did and it irritates me that someone out there is stupid enough to sit there and try to defend not Beltran and disgrace the New York Mets organization. It's beyond stupid! Yet, someone is....

I found THIS article here on USA Today that irritated me. I agree with Bob Nightengale's headline. Beltran's "ousting was completely bungled" but for very different reasons. The headline is the ONLY thing we agree on in this case.

Does Nightengale even understand the magnitude of this scandal? Does he not understand that this affects ALL of baseball? This isn't just a Astros and Red Sox problem, it has damaged the sport!

"Carlos Beltran wanted to stay, pleaded to stay, and told the New York Mets he could handle the torrent waves of scrutiny headed his way. Sorry, but the Mets couldn’t take the heat."

First of all....WHY should the Mets have to take that heat? They don't have to! They had no involvement with what happened in 2017. What organization in their right mind wants to be connected to this scandal? It's vile, untrustworthy and brings disgrace to the game. ANY affiliation with it only would make the Mets look bad too. They would be under a microscope for all of Beltran's tenure with the Mets. It would suggest that they have no standards or integrity. Once you lose your integrity, what do you have left? Nothing. Absolutely nothing. The Mets maintaining Beltran's services would be catastrophic to their reputation. Obviously, Nightengale doesn't get that at all.

"The Mets could have stood behind Beltran and argued that he was simply part of the mob mentality in Houston. Players under investigation during  the Houston Astros’ cheating scandal were offered immunity, so he wasn’t going to be suspended. Beltran argued he could handle it. He wanted to apologize in a press conference. He spent 20 years in the game of baseball, and told them the Mets’ ownership and front office that he had plenty of experience persevering storms."

Again, who wants to stand behind a cheater? They could have, and did at first. It took Brody Van Wagenen a lot time to figure it out, but eventually he did. Back in November he said at Winter Meetings HERE:

"Anything that happened, happened for another organization with Houston, Major League Baseball," Van Wagenen said. "I have no idea if anything did or did not (happen). But at this point, I don't see any reason why this is a Mets situation. ... I'll let Major League Baseball dictate the next steps and try to gather more information in the coming days."

Here we are in January and Beltran is gone. The Mets realized it WAS a Mets situation. More importantly, the cheating scandal was a situation that Beltran CHOSE to be a part of. No one FORCED him to help Jose Altuve and company CHEAT. He knew it was wrong but made the decision to participate anyway. Instead of standing up like a TRUE leader (like someone who is going to in the future manage a baseball team!) and standing up and saying "NO this is wrong!" He just went with it. No 20 years of baseball experience is going to hep him persevere that storm. He helped create that storm....a storm we have not seen to this magnitude. He created the perfect storm but he wasn't going to come out of this on top and neither would the Mets if they stood by him.

Nightengale goes on to say "But the Mets had a choice here. They could have saved Beltran. Instead, they folded."

The Mets did have a choice. At first they stood by him, but as the facts continued to mount and painted a picture of guilt the Mets FINALLY made the right decision to cut Beltran, because they HAD to. Nightengale doesn't understand that at the end of the day baseball is still a BUSINESS. Like any business, you have to make tough decisions that are ultimately put the business in the best possible position. The best possible position meant the Mets distancing themselves from Beltran and let him face the music. There was no SAVING Beltran here. He already made his choice, and it was the wrong one. He chose to cheat. The Mets can't go back in time and change that.  Now all they can do is walk away and make sure they didn't bring a key person from this cheating scandal into THEIR organization. 

I've never had an issue with Nightengale's stories until now. So yeah, okay I agree Beltran's "ousting was completely bungled" but only because the Mets should have done it sooner. I guess it is better late than never. Maybe Nightengale should watch Baretta! Some of you out there know this American detective television series from the 70's.... "Don't do the crime if you can't do the time." 

It's not rocket science, Nightengale. You have egg on your face.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj