Related
The media hailstorm for the Houston Astros continues by the day, and more and more players in the big leagues are making their opinions known.
Spring Training has just begun for the Astros and it could not have come at a worse time.
The Houston Astros apologized on Thursday for a sign-stealing scandal that cost their 2017 World Series-winning manager and general manager their jobs.
Commissioner Rob Manfred has affirmed that the punishment the 2017 World Series champions received was harsh enough ($5 million fine, loss of first and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021), and members of the organization have been drawing a lot of negative attention as a result of not seeming too fazed by the allegations of sign-stealing.
Nationals' ace Max Scherzer commented on the topic last week while speaking with reporters at the West Palm Beach complex in Florida that the team shares with the Astros.
“They crossed the moral line and cheated, but they got to answer for it," Max Scherzer said. "It’s not really for us to speak for them, they need to speak for themselves, to talk to the fans of baseball and explain what happened."
"I don't know what human hits a walk-off home run against Aroldis Chapman to send your team to the World Series, and, one, has the thought to say, 'Don't rip my jersey off,' but, two, go into the tunnel, change your shirt, and then come out and do your interview, Bellinger said. "That makes no sense to me."
Correa's reasoning behind the 2017 AL MVP not wanting his jersey ripped off was that Altuve had an unfinished tattoo on his collarbone that "looked terrible."
"It's sad for baseball," Trout said. "It's tough. They cheated. I don't agree with the punishments, the players not getting anything. It was a player-driven thing. It sucks, too, because guys' careers have been affected, a lot of people lost jobs. It was tough. Me going up to the plate knowing what was coming -- it would be pretty fun up there."
Former Nationals star Anthony Rendon, a Houston native, who joined the Angels during the offseason after winning the 2019 World Series with the Nationals, reported to the team Monday and also chimed in.
"Even when I watched their games over the previous years, it was suspicious," Rendon said. "It looked weird. They were (sitting) on balls that were very tough pitches, and just the way that they were playing the game. They're all talented players. I love those guys over there, especially what they've done in my city of Houston to help us out. But it definitely raises a lot of question marks, watching those games."