Carlos Beltran was the only player named in Major League Baseball’s report on its investigation into illicit sign-stealing by the Houston Astros in 2017, and that was for a reason.

The report, which was released on Monday and has led to the firing of three people, indicated that virtually all of the Astros’ players were involved in, or at least aware of, the scheme to tell batters which pitches would be coming from opponents.

But according to a person with direct knowledge of the investigation who requested anonymity to discuss details that had not been made public, Beltran was named because he was a central figure at the outset of the operation, in which electronic equipment was used illegally to steal the opposing catchers’ signs.

A.J. Hinch, the Astros' manager, Jeff Luhnow, Houston’s general manager, and Alex Cora, the Boston Red Sox manager who was a bench coach for the Astros in 2017, all lost their jobs as a result. Cora was let go by the Red Sox on Tuesday night, one day after the Astros owner Jim Crane fired Hinch and Luhnow.