Carlos Beltran has emerged as an intriguing candidate to be a YES game analyst, The Post has learned.
Beltran is among a group of analysts YES is looking at to pick up the games this season, provided, of course, there is a season.
YES Network has games to fill with David Cone expanding his national profile to join ESPN’s “Sunday Night Baseball” and Ken Singleton retiring. Cone is now expected to do 55-60 Yankee games this upcoming season. Cone called 90 games last year with no travel, but in a normal season did in the 70 range.
Singleton was on a limited schedule in his final seasons on YES, but, combined with Cone’s smaller role, a number of opportunities have been created.
While Beltran is a fascinating potential choice because of his firing as Mets manager due to his involvement in the Astros cheating scandal, he is not alone. YES also has known interest in Cameron Maybin, Jeff Nelson and, already in-house John Flaherty, according to sources.
YES declined comment, while Beltran did not immediately return a message.
YES will have Michael Kay return as the lead play-by-player, backed up by Ryan Ruocco. Paul O’Neill is scheduled to return, as well, on his normal schedule.
YES president of programming and production John Filippelli is leading the search, which, like with all teams, is coordinated with the Yankees. Filippelli is the one who championed Cone’s rise.
Beltran is an inspired candidate on many levels. First and foremost, he would likely be excellent. As a player, especially later in his career, he gave insightful answers to questions from reporters. This would likely only expand as an analyst. So he makes a lot of sense for YES.
However, he was the only player who was disciplined from the Astros cheating scandal that Major League Baseball in its findings described as “player driven.” While not sanctioned by the Commissioner’s Office, Beltran lost his job as the Mets manager before ever taking the field in early in 2020.
A.J. Hinch, the Astros’ manager in 2017, and his bench coach, Alex Cora, were both suspended for one year, but have both since returned as managers. GM Jeff Luhnow was suspended and has not received a second chance in the game. The 2017 Astros eliminated the Yankees in seven games.
Beltran, a potential Hall of Famer, has always been popular around the game. He had a tremendous reputation before the Astros scandal. He served as an advocate for other players, being instrumental in making it mandatory that every team has a Spanish translator, as it had been customary for Japanese players to have someone hired to help them with the language barrier.
For Beltran, if he wants to return to the game, this would be a good start. Fans would probably like his deep knowledge, and it could be a first step if he wants to either be hired as a manager or in a front office in the future.
Clicker Book Club
** Papa Clicker, my dad, Herb Marchand, called, “Blood in the Garden, The Flagrant History of the 1990s New York Knicks” by Chris Herring an excellent read. While these famed Knicks teams led by Patrick Ewing never won a title, this book is a winner. It receives 4.6 out of 5 clickers, receiving the edge over another highly rated book on the subject, “Knicks of the Nineties,” which received a 4.45 from our resident book reviewer.