Breaking
Tag

Houston Astros

Browsing
Sports

The Los Angeles City Council Is Voting on a Resolution to Make MLB Give 2017 and 2018 Titles to the Dodgers

By

The Los Angeles Times came out with the following story today regarding the Astros and Red Sox cheating scandal:

Bill Shaiken via Los Angeles Times: The Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote within the next week on a resolution urging Major League Baseball to recall the championship trophies presented to the Houston Astros in 2017 and the Boston Red Sox in 2018 “and award them to the Los Angeles Dodgers.”

Councilman Gil Cedillo, one of the sponsors of the resolution, said he expects the council to approve it. As of late Wednesday, the city clerk had not yet determined what day the resolution would come up for a vote.

Cedillo, whose district includes Dodger Stadium, said neither the Dodgers nor his constituents had requested the resolution.

What up council, this is exactly what I didn’t want to happen.

And not because I don’t think the Dodgers would’ve won the World Series in 2017 had the Astros not cheated, but because the championship is now tainted. I like the part about recalling the championship trophies presented to the Astros, but not the part about then awarding it to the Dodgers. Obviously they’re doing this to make headlines, but I think it’s unreasonable to award a championship to a team after they technically already lost.

Of course I think the Dodgers would’ve taken at least two out of three games in Houston, and eventually won the Series, but we still don’t know for sure what would’ve happened. And that’s the real bummer of it all. Two years removed from that championship, it wouldn’t even change anything. It wouldn’t feel like the truly Dodgers won it, even though the books would say they did. And would there be a parade? A ceremony? Would they bring back all the guys that were on the 2017 roster? That would be the saddest championship celebration of all time. I’d still go…but damn it would be a weird experience.

They should just put an asterisk by the 2017 season and leave it at that. But, if they do end up vacating the Astros of their title, I’ll probably end up pleasure myself to the video of them taking the trophy away, if one were to surface.

And there’s no need for the Red Sox to have their championship taken away, if I’m being honest. It was proven that although they cheated during the 2018 season, they did not cheat during the playoffs. Even though they’re still pieces of shit for cheating in the first place, their championship shouldn’t be vacated for it.

I appreciate the thought, LA City Council, but I think maybe you should revise the resolution to just vacate the Astros of their championship and leave it at that. Watching Astros fans cry on Twitter and the news about it would be amazing.

Keep Reading
By
Sports

Alex Cora, ‘Most’ Astros Players Involved in Cheating Scandal

By

Source: Alex Cora, Houston’s bench coach in 2017 and the Red Sox’s manager since 2018, is heavily implicated throughout the report. He’s said to have called down to the video room to get signs early in 2017, which constitutes improper usage of a dugout phone, and he is also the only non-player mentioned by name who had a role in devising the garbage can system.

“Cora was involved in developing both the banging scheme and utilizing the replay review room to decode and transmit signs. Cora participated in both schemes, and through his active participation, implicitly condoned the players’ conduct,” the report says. The Red Sox are currently under investigation for a 2018 sign-stealing scheme in and Cora’s punishment will be announced at a later date.

As part of the fallout from the league’s report on the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal, Cora was fired by the Red Sox on Tuesday. The league’s investigation into the Red Sox’s own sign-stealing scheme during their 2018 championship season is still ongoing. Cora’s managerial career may be over, but he still awaits his punishment from the league. Our staff discussed Cora’s likely punishment from his involvement in sign-stealing scandals with two separate teams.

We all knew that an Astros coach or two (at least) had to have been involved in this cheating scandal, but now we know that Alex Cora is the guy.

Alex Cora really deserves a lifetime ban. He lacks the integrity that’s required of any person employed by Major League Baseball. He clearly will do whatever it takes to win…and who knows where it would’ve stopped? I’m surprised some backroom video intern hasn’t turned up dead because of this whole situation, so Cora could cover up his tracks. Obviously I’m joking, but it just seems like the kind of thing he would do based on his moral standards. Since it turns out he was the most senior person in the organization to conspire with the players in the scandal, of course he wasn’t able to stop once he left Houston. He went on to manage the Red Sox the following season and continued his cheating ways there.

Just a reminder that all this takes place after Manfred’s statement (because of Red Sox and Yankees cheating) in 2017 that “All 30 clubs have been notified that future violations of this type will be subject to more serious sanctions, including the possible loss of draft picks”. Cora valued winning over the integrity of the game and disrespected everyone in the league office when he continued to break the rules. It just goes to show that there is no reason he should be allowed back in the league after this.

And listen, A.J. Hinch isn’t innocent here either. While Axisa went on to note that “Hinch went so far as to damage monitors”, shows that he did disapprove of the cheating. But, where he is at fault is that he did nothing further to put an end to it. Therefore, his suspension is still warranted.

However, it’s also players like Brian McCann, a noted  “play the game the right way” type of guy, Justin Verlander, who has been vocal in the past about players that test positive for PED’s, and that smug fuck Alex Bregman that really make the organization look like a bunch of paradoxical conniving pricks.

It’s always the guys that are extremely outspoken against a specific topic (cheating in this case) that are actually the shittiest people. Brian McCann got mad at Jose Fernandez for pimping his first career home run (as a rookie) a little lol what a punk. And I never really had a reason to hate Alex Bregman besides the fact that he was a good, which is out of respect, until now…which I’m kinda happy about? He seemed like a dick even back in his LSU days, so now that he played a legitimate role in robbing the Dodgers of their first championship in 29 years, I have an actual reason to hate him.

And if I failed to express how ridiculous it was that the Astros didn’t have their 2017 World Series title taken away in my last blog, then this Bill Plaschke article from the LA Times should do.

Keep Reading
By
Sports

MLB Hits Houston Astros Hard With Fines/Suspensions, but Were They Harsh Enough?

By

Well it finally happened. The MLB Commissioner’s office officially released the Astros’ punishment for cheating during the 2017 and 2018 season. Mike Axisa of CBS Sports reported:

Monday afternoon, Major League Baseball and commissioner Rob Manfred announced their punishment for the Houston Astros stemming from the team’s sign-stealing scandal. The Astros were alleged to have illegally used electronics to steal signs during their 2017 World Series Championship run and MLB‘s investigation verified media reports.

Here is a recap of the discipline:

  • Astros fined $5 million, the maximum allowed under MLB’s constitution.
  • GM Jeff Luhnow suspended for one year. Luhnow was then fired by the Astros.
  • Manager A.J. Hinch suspended for one year. Hinch was then fired by the Astros.
  • Former assistant GM Brandon Taubman suspended one year.
  • Astros forfeit their first and second round draft picks the next two years.

Manfred issued a nine-page report detailing MLB’s investigation and explaining how he arrived at the discipline. The scandal and the level of discipline are unprecedented, and yet the punishment also feels a little light.

Specifically, the $5 million fine is probably not enough to deter similar behavior in the future. Hinch and Luhnow getting suspended and then fired will undoubtedly resonate throughout baseball circles, but, at the ownership level, the $5 million fine is a pittance relative to the financial windfall associated with winning the 2017 World Series.

Astros players took home a then-record $30,420,155.57 postseason pool in 2017, and, given how that is calculated and the fact the Astros played seven games in the ALCS and World Series, it means the club itself took home something well north of that following the 2017 postseason run. The $5 million fine amounts to only a small piece of that pie.

Manfred’s discipline was harsh like it should have been, but it was also not as harsh as it could have been and maybe should have been. The single best way to drive home a point and invite change is to take away money, and MLB did not take away enough from the Astros. That 2017 World Series win more than paid for itself.

The only thing I really cared about was whether or not the Astros cheated in the 2017 postseason, in which they went on to defeat the Dodgers in the World Series. Since it turns out they did, there’s one thing missing from their punishment handed down from Rob Manfred: They should’ve had their World Series championship stripped, and you can’t change my mind about that.

In all honesty, I wouldn’t have cared if not a single player or coach got suspended as long as they lost their World Series (USC style). Fine, they did it in the regular season. But cheating in the postseason after the commissioner’s office issued a warning to the Red Sox and Yankees on Sep.15, 2017 about cheating is basically a giant “fuck you” to Manfred. Every win from then on out should have been vacated, including the World Series, no doubt about it.

However, maybe the commissioner’s office determined that there was no way they could vacate their World Series championship. Fine. But how did not a single player get suspended for the 2020 season? Not even a fine? That’s what I don’t understand about their ruling. The Astros are a team comprised of Carlos Correa, Justin Verlander, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, and George Springer, among others. They’re going to be alright. Do you think firing their GM and manager, and taking away a few draft picks is going to severely impact their production next season? Probably not. I think you could get Kate Upton to fill out the lineup card every game and they still win 90+ next year because they’re that stacked.

I forgot to mention the $5 million fine the Astros must pay as well. I get it…that’s the max amount they can be fined under the MLB Constitution, but really that’s just a slap on the wrist. For reference, Jacoby Ellsbury made $21 million last year and hasn’t played a game in the MLB since 2017.

All this is not to say I think the Dodgers should be awarded the 2017 World Series title, even though odds are they win if the Astros don’t cheat…I just want the Astros to be dethroned.  Even after the 2004 USC Trojans were forced to vacate their title, it’s not like another school was given their championship. That’s how I feel about the Astros’ situation. However, unless you’re an Astros fan, no one thinks that championship is legitimate any longer anyway. Hope it was worth it, Houston. Enjoy getting viciously booed at every ballpark next season!

Stay tuned for MLB’s punishment for Alex Cora and the Red Sox!

Keep Reading
By