Less than half an hour after the New York Mets announced that they had declined Luis Rojas' club option to return as manager in 2022, Carlos Beltrán began to trend on Twitter.
And it wasn't because a ton of Twitter users suddenly decided to reminisce about playing Backyard Baseball 2001.
Rojas got a chance to manage the Mets -- ultimately for two seasons -- only after the organization parted ways with Beltrán before he ever managed a game because of his role in the Houston Astros 2017 sign-stealing scandal.
Like Beltrán, A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora lost their managerial jobs due to the fallout of the Astros scandal. Both have since returned to the dugout. Hinch was suspended for the entirety of the 2020 season, and was hired to be the manager of the Detroit Tigers immediately after his suspension concluded. Cora was replaced by Ron Roenicke for the 2020 season, and then re-hired as the manager in 2021. Cora's Red Sox will host the New York Yankees in the American League Wild Card Game Tuesday, as the former infielder attempts to guide Boston to their second World Series title in four seasons.
The question posed by many then, is that if Hinch and Cora were given second chances, shouldn't Beltrán get one?
One major difference here is that Hinch and Cora were already accomplished managers when the scandal hit. Hinch had led the Astros to a World Series title in 2017, and the last game he managed for the team was literally Game 7 of the 2019 World Series. Cora was Hinch's bench coach in 2017, before leading the Red Sox to a franchise-record 108 wins and their ninth World Series title in 2018. Beltrán got let go before he ever managed a game.
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Beltrán has also seemingly boxed himself into only managing in New York. In October of 2019, Beltrán -- then working as an advisor to Yankees general manager Brian Cashman -- said that he interviewed for the Mets job, but declined chances to do the same with the Chicago Cubs and San Diego Padres. The Yankees job continues to be occupied by Aaron Boone, and there's no guarantee that the Mets, who have had about as much bad PR in 2021 as you could imagine, would even be willing to entertain the baggage that comes with Beltrán.
Hinch had to go to a different city to get another opportunity to manage after the sign-stealing scandal. Beltrán would seemingly increase his chances to get a job if he was willing to consider all vacancies.
None of this is to say that the Mets won't circle back to Beltrán, at least for an interview. But the Wilpon's have since sold the team, and Brodie Van Wagenen is no longer the top executive in the organization. The Mets search for a baseball operations head will be first on their agenda this offseason, with Audacy Sports MLB Insider Jon Heyman saying that whoever ultimately is tabbed for that role will get to select the successor to Rojas.
Seemingly, Beltrán won't go anywhere in the meantime, but as Justin Toscano of NorthJersey.com notes, the Mets might be inclined to pick a more experienced manager this time around.
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