Not only was Carlos Beltran considered a driving force behind the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, but former teammates also said he refused to change when confronted by Brian McCann.

"He disregarded it and steamrolled everybody," a member of the 2017 Astros said of Beltran's response to McCann's concerns, per Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic. "Where do you go if you're a young, impressionable player with the Astros and this guy says, 'We're doing this'? What do you do?"

Beltran was the only player named in the official MLB report on the investigation, which said he and a group of players first came up with the system to decode opposition signs.  

The 42-year-old was hired to manage the New York Mets this offseason, but the two sides parted ways after details emerged about his role in the scandal.

In 2018 and 2019, Beltran worked as a special adviser to general manager Brian Cashman with the New York Yankees, but his "overall impact was minimal" aside from helping with film review, according to Rosenthal and Drellich.

A Yankees official said when he asked Beltran about any alleged sign-stealing with the Astros, he told him it was "nothing no one else is doing."

McCann, who was reportedly not involved in the scandal, also had conversations in which he denied any cheating by the team.

Astros manager AJ Hinch was fired after MLB suspended him for a year, explaining in an interview earlier this month that he wishes he put an end to everything:

It seems that no one was able to stop Beltran and others from carrying on with the scheme, which included banging on trash cans from the dugout to tip off hitters.