I'm sure you are all getting a little tired of reading about the Astros cheating scandal, but as in my opinion it is the largest sports scandal of my lifetime, and in baseball since the Black Sox, it's earned the position of being my first blog post.
I'll begin talking about the scandal itself and my thoughts before I dive into the shit-show that is Rob Manfred and his actions following this. In baseball everyone is looking to get the other teams signs. It starts when you're twelve in Little League and never stops until you get to Beer League because at that point frankly no one gives that much of a shit about it. I think that this is totally fine and is something that I would often find myself attempting in Little League and High School JV ball. Where my problem with this begins is when you loop technology into it and there becomes little that the opposing team can do to avoid their signs being lifted. Yes, you can change up signs to try and throw the Astros off but to do that all game long for an entire 3 or 4 game series would be exhausting and would distract the team from trying to do what both teams should just be doing. Playing the game of baseball.
We know the trash can thing happened, we don't know for sure whether or not the wires on the players shoulders occurred or not, but I believe that they did use wires to communicate which pitch was coming. The biggest piece of evidence being Altuve leaving the field immediately following his walk-off home run to send the Astros to the World Series in 2019 and imploring teammates not to rip his jersey off. He additionally had an undershirt on in the game prior to the 8th inning and can be seen at the plate in the bottom of the ninth sans undershirt. If you're cheating and getting away with it (and winning a World Series) why in the world would you stop? Players in the league were quick to catch on to the trash can banging so they changed it up, made it more discreet, put a wire on some of their batters and continued on their ways of cheating and winning, a whole lot of winning.
After all of this came to the public eye, my first reaction was that I was a surprised by not much else. However, after the multiple "apologies" made by team owner Jim Crane, and statements by players, I quickly became very frustrated and genuinely mad at the Astros Organization. You were caught cheating. Accept it and move on. But the constant references to the findings of the leagues investigation, and never actually saying that yes they did it was mind-boggling and incredibly maddening. All of this of course is aided by the less than weak punishments dished out by incompetent league commissioner Rob Manfred.
Manfred struck down his gavel and ordered that manager AJ Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow to be suspended for the 2020 season, a fine of a measly $5 million dollars, and the revocation of 4 draft picks in future MLB drafts.
Within days of the punishment being handed down, the Astros organization fired Hinch and Luhnow, making their suspensions basically nothing to the Astros. The $5 million fine will be made back in one weekend series hosted at Minute Maid Park probably in beer and hot dog sales alone. The four draft picks may eventually hurt the Astros but that will still not be seen for another 5-10 years when their current farm system guys are all up in the bigs.
Manfred offered the players total amnesty as long as they told him the truth about everything that was going down and that is absurd. The players, the ones who decided to cheat, get away scot free because they told Manfred and the MLB what most players and opposing pitchers could also tell them. Not even a one game suspension, not even a $10 fine. Nothing. If i'm the MLB commissioner these guys are all receiving a season suspension, more if it is determined that there are players who used it more than others, which there are. Additionally the 2017 World Series needs to be stripped from the team. Manfred says that there is no precedent which is the biggest reason why he didn't take it away from them. Okay, while there may not be a precedent, you could set one? That must be too wild of an idea for a guy that seems like he has no idea what he is doing anymore at the helm of professional baseball. He later goes on in a separate press conference to say that the World Series trophy and the rings are "just a piece of metal". This guy's name is on the trophy and he seems to not even grasp what it embodies and represents to organizations, players and fans all around the world. Manfred is on a different planet than the players and fans and in my opinion needs to be removed as soon as possible based solely on his handling of this scandal.
For now however, we know that it is unlikely any more sanctions come down from the MLB so it is fans and players hands to do what the MLB was too negligent to not do, punish a team for cheating. The beanballs that we've seen so far in Spring Training are warranted and I hope to see it continue all throughout the season. The relentless booing showering down on the Astros is awesome, and is something that I hope never loses its power as the season(s) go on. The trolling that will occur will be next level and it will be something that is documented in sports history forever, and you can bet your ass I'll be there doing my part as well.
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