Major League Baseball

Carlos Beltran admits 'stain' on Astros' 2017 World Series title

Updated Apr. 3, 2022 5:50 p.m. ET

In an interview with YES Network play-by-play man Michael Kay, former Houston Astro Carlos Beltran admitted that Houston's 2017 World Series title was "stained."

"Yeah, there is [a stain on the championship]," said Beltran, who's set to begin an analyst's role alongside Kay this season.

"Because, you know what we did, and we all have taken responsibility and at some point, we all have shown remorse about what we did.

"We did cross the line," Beltran added.

"We all did what we did. Looking back today, we were wrong. I wish I would've asked more questions about what we were doing. I wish the organization would've said to us, ‘Hey man, what you guys are doing? We need to stop this.’ Nobody really said anything. We're winning, you know, and some days our system really worked. Some days [it] didn't really work … but we had a good team, Michael."

"If [the Astros' front office] got the letter [from the MLB], they never shared it with us. Nobody said anything to us. I wish somebody would've said something. A lot of people always ask me, 'Why you didn't stop it?' And my answer is, 'I didn't stop it the same way no one stopped it. This is working for us. Why you gonna stop something that is working for you?'"

Beltran went on to provide details about the innards of the squad's setup.

"We felt that when teams are coming to our ballpark, we felt that some teams have something going on. So we felt that we needed to create our own [system], and that's what happened. Almost every team in baseball has their video room next to the dugout. Our video room in Houston was in the clubhouse. So we needed to run there to see our at-bats. So we felt why we don't have our video room next to our dugout? We’re seeing the game … you get to see the pitchers, you get to see the catchers. And then we felt that we could use that, you know, but we didn't feel that we were really crossing the line there.

"We felt in our hearts that we were being more efficient and smarter than any team out there. That’s how we felt."

Beltran was the lone player named in the MLB's investigative report on the ordeal and has had to deal with the scrutiny that's followed his name since.

But Aaron Judge, whom Beltran played with in New York prior to his Houston tenure, didn't want to rehash old flashbacks.

"In my opinion, I don’t think he needs to say anything to us," Judge said Sunday.

"I’ve got a lot of respect for Beltran, he helped me a lot during his time here as a player. Learned a lot of good lessons. He spent a lot of quality time just kind of talking to me about the game, the mental side of the game, his approaches, how to be a good teammate.

"He was a big part of this team, a big part of baseball," Judge went on. "What he brings to the game and what he’s going to bring to the YES Network is going to be big time. I can’t speak for the whole group, but I think the things that we’ve got to focus on this year and the things we’ve got to do this year are more important than anything that happened in the past."

Judge was among those who were critical of the Astros in the wake of the scandal, stating that they had "cheated" and "didn’t earn" their title. Houston defeated New York in the 2017 ALCS en route to the World Series, where the Astros defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in seven games.

The full episode of "Centerstage" is set to premiere Monday at 12 p.m. ET. Baseball's Opening Day is April 7.