Don’t expect Carlos Beltran back in baseball anytime soon: Ron Darling

Don’t expect to hear from Carlos Beltran anytime, sooner or later. At least that’s what Ron Darling thinks. Speaking on WFAN’s “Moose & Maggie” show on Wednesday, the Mets’ announcer and one-time All-Star said Beltran, who was implicated in the Astros sign-stealing scandal, will likely stay out of the public eye after losing his job …

Don’t expect to hear from Carlos Beltran anytime, sooner or later. At least that’s what Ron Darling thinks.

Speaking on WFAN’s “Moose & Maggie” show on Wednesday, the Mets’ announcer and one-time All-Star said Beltran, who was implicated in the Astros sign-stealing scandal, will likely stay out of the public eye after losing his job as manager of the Mets before his first spring training had even started.

Asked by host Marc Malusis if the sports world would “be hearing from Beltran at some point in time,” Darling said. “My first quick answer would be no and I think it’s on both sides. I think that’s because of the lack of any kind of connection, whether it’s through the media or statements or anything else. Carlos, one of the great players to ever play the game has gone through what all of us would go through, and that is an incredibly embarrassing experience that has put him in a place that very few players have been in.”

Beltran’s baseball future, in Darling’s mind, is very much in doubt.

“I think baseball would be very hesitant to hire Carlos,” the 59-year-old Hawaiian said. “I think Carlos would be very hesitant to come back to the game.”

He didn’t see the same fate for the coaches implicated in the Astros’ scheme, however.

“I think [Red Sox manager Alex] Cora’s gonna have a very difficult time too. I think A.J. Hinch, the way he came out of this is going to get another shot. Those are just opinions with no science, no facts. But that’s how it feels.”

Because Beltran is likely to have a tenuous relationship with MLB going forward, Darling thinks the Mets’ one-time MVP candidate and postseason goat will stay mum for the foreseeable future.

“I’m thinking maybe someday down the road,” Darling said, “there might be a book or something — that Carlos tries to talk about the experience, try to work it like you’d work it through if you’re seeing a psychologist or something — maybe that will happen for Carlos. But I don’t think we’re going to hear a barnstorming tour of Carlos speaking.

“My feel for it … He’s embarrassed by what has happened, the sport is embarrassed by what has happened and this is going to be kind of like Philip Nolan, a man without a country, for a long time.