The heat on the Houston Astros is only being turned up as other star players and teams report to spring training. Questions are being asked and hoo boy are opposing player giving their opinions on the cheating scandal that helped lead the Astros to a World Series win in 2017.
One of those players who didn’t shy away from talking about the Astros is Mike Trout, who is arguably the very best player in the game.
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Trout stepped out of his normal, bland self and took a number of pointed shots at the Astros on Monday, which says a lot.
Here’s what the three-time MVP had to say, via ESPN:
“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.”
“I lost some respect for some guys,” Trout said. “… All the stuff coming out, it’s tough to see.”
None of players who cheated, of course, were punished by MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, which is absurd.
Here’s video Trout’s meeting with the media:
Mike Trout shares his thoughts on the Astros’ sign stealing scandal, and isn’t happy with the punishment pic.twitter.com/LPU9iX0soo
— Baseball Quotes (@BaseballQuotes1) February 17, 2020
He also added:
Mike Trout: “You can take my shirt off…if you hit a homer to send your team to the World Series at home, you can do whatever you want to me.”
— Fabian Ardaya (@FabianArdaya) February 17, 2020
Rob Manfred and MLB are going to continue to look really bad for how this whole thing has been handled.
Which is just great.