Using sticky, foreign substances on the pitcher's mound is cheating, and there's not much more to it than that. And with the new rules regarding the use of these banned materials, players will finally be punished for their lack of integrity out on the bump. That's what happens: you cheat, and you pay the consequences.
Related
Except in baseball, that isn't always what happens. One example of cheating is paramount in the world of MLB rule-breaking, though the players involved were not punished, and it's not hard to pin which instance I'm referring to: the massive sign-stealing scandal that took down the Houston Astros and rocked the sports world. And it's this that has apparently gotten under the skin of White Sox starter Carlos Rodon. Though he denies ever having used one of these foreign substances, the way the league has decided to suddenly come down on this form of cheating doesn't sit right wit him.
"Do I use it? No. Do I know any of our guys that use it? Not that I know of," Rodon said (via NBC Sports Chicago). "The way I look at it is, it's hard to see this when you're giving out 10-game suspensions for cheating, but you gave the Astros no suspensions at all.
"So if Rob Manfred can look himself in the mirror and say, 'hey, I'm doing the right thing,' that's fine. Can't suspend the team that you actually knew was cheating during a playoff game? That's on you."
Manfred previously explained to ESPN's Karl Ravech why he didn't hand any punishments down to Astros players, adding that the players "have paid a price," simply by needing to deal with the issue publicly. The primary reason was because GM Jeff Luhnow didn't inform the Astros' players of the 2017 memo regarding MLB's policy on the use of technology.
"The memorandum went to the general manager, and then nothing was done from the GM down," Manfred said last year. "So we knew if we had disciplined the players in all likelihood we were going to have grievances and grievances that we were going to lose on the basis that we never properly informed them of the rules."
Now that players are well-informed of the 10-game punishments about any sticky, foreign substances — though some players are still griping about what exactly "sticky" means — the reasoning for deciding not to punish Astros' players can't be used here. Does this mean that every time a player is punished will be clear-cut and without any dispute? Probably not, and for that reason (among others), it probably won't be the smoothest ride toward resolving this issue.
Related
LISTEN on the Audacy App
Sign Up and Follow Audacy Sports
Facebook | Twitter | Instagram