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
What I’m Hearing: USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale says former Astro Will Harris is having a hard time fitting in with his new Nationals teammates who have openly called the Houston cheating scandal “disgusting”.
What I’m Hearing: USA TODAY Sports’ Bob Nightengale says former Astro Will Harris is having a hard time fitting in with his new Nationals teammates who have openly called the Houston cheating scandal “disgusting”.
We’re at the point in the Houston Astros cheating scandal where everyone is looking for little things that indicate the sign-stealing didn’t include a buzzer taped to players.
That’s specific to Jose Altuve, the second baseman who told his teammates not to rip off his jersey after his 2019 ALCS-clinching home run off Aroldis Chapman. It was an allegation that infuriated MLB players further, and Altuve and his teammates denied that anyone wore a buzzer to help batters know what pitch was coming. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said he wasn’t 100 percent sure that allegation wasn’t true.
But why did Altuve tell his teammates not to rip his jersey off? His agent, Scott Boras, said it was his “shyness” that was the culprit, something Yankees catcher Gary Sanchez mocked recently. The other day, Altuve’s teammate Carlos Correa said that the second baseman had “an unfinished tattoo on his collarbone, that honestly looked terrible” and that’s why he didn’t want his jersey ripped.
Which all brings us to Monday’s revelation in the clubhouse:
Jose Altuve walks into clubhouse shirtless, exposing a tattoo
Jose Altuve will speak to reporters after today’s workout. He just entered the Astros clubhouse shirtless, exposing a tattoo on his left shoulder that said “Melanie.”
Jose Altuve just walked into the Astros clubhouse, changed his shirt in front of his locker — where a throng of reporters and cameramen were waiting — grabbed a bat and left to go to the batting cage.
still doesn't change the fact that the astros expect us to believe altuve was concerned about a tattoo being seen in the middle of a celebration after the biggest HR of his life https://t.co/TJ3PafKQ1T
Rob Manfred thinks the World Series trophy is just a “piece of metal.”
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That’s not exactly a hot take, because many people hit me up on social media after to let me know they agreed and that they loved me (not all of that is true).
And then on Sunday #FireManfred trended on Twitter for many, many hours. I wish I could say that was because of my post from a few days ago but I can’t take credit for that. Nope, all that credit goes to Mr. Manfred for being so utterly terrible at his job.
Manfred also said any pitchers that throw at the Astros (which will be a lot, I assume) will be punished very strictly for doing so. Don’t you dare throw at those protected cheaters, you honest pitchers!
But here was the kicker, the ol’ spit in the face of all the fans out there who love baseball. Manfred called the World Series trophy just a “piece of metal” and MLB didn’t need to get it back from the Astros for their tainted 2017 World Series title.
“The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act. People will always know that something was different about the 2017 season, and whether we made that decision right or wrong, we undertook a thorough investigation, and had the intestinal fortitude to share the results of that investigation, even when those results were not very pretty.”
I mean, ew, right?
Not cool, Mr. Commissoner!
You think taking back a trophy that a team proudly displays is futile? You don’t think there could be some embarrassing way you could go to Houston and strip them of their trophy? I mean, this could be turned in to a fun (I know fun isn’t a word often used in MLB headquarters) and therapeutic way to handle the situation. Embarrass the heck out of the Astros by taking their trophy! Broadcast the removal of said trophy! Have some fun with it! Send an embarrassing message to the rest of the league!
But instead you call the idea of taking back the trophy futile? This trophy that teams fight all season for? This trophy that players kiss after they battle their whole lives to try to win? This trophy that is proudly paraded through a city after a World Series win?
And instead of going after that “piece of metal” you’ll punish players who take things into their own hands because you’re afraid to do anything?
That’s weak and all fans should be grossed out by you.
#FireManfred feels like it’s gonna be around a while.
As it should be.
Sunday’s biggest winner: Dr. Dre’s tribute to Kobe Bryant.
(AP Photo/Matt Slocum)
Dr. Dre released a really touching tribute video to Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gigi before Sunday’s All-Star Game and, man, is it absolutely beautiful. You need to go watch this right now.
The same could be said for most stages of the scandal: the investigation, the punishment, the apologies. The cheating itself, however, seemed to be quite successful. But Manfred struggled to get conclusive evidence on some of the suggested methods of sign-stealing. For example, Manfred reiterated that there was no evidence that Astros players were using a buzzer under their jerseys to aid in their sign-stealing scheme.
As the interview came to a close, Manfred said he would “work with the Astros to help them put this behind them.”
To a degree, he’s trying to show he’s taking an interest in moving on from this scandal. And why wouldn’t he? His office’s handling of the situation has been, to steal his words, not successful. But his comments also come off as disingenuous, as if he’s trying to put the scandal behind the Astros in an effort to cover up the scale of the cheating, because that magnitude makes Manfred look awfully bad.
MLB fans on Twitter did not seem reassured by Manfred’s comments on Sunday. To the contrary.
Rob Manfred on ESPN just said he will send a memorandum to all teams discouraging retaliation against the Astros. He cited that throwing at Astros hitters is inappropriate, and increased punishments will be in play.
As opposed to ZERO punishment for the players who cheated.
Rob Manfred to ESPN about the buzzers: "The piece that no one appreciates is that we found no evidence — not a single witness — who could corroborate that there were buzzers being used during the 2019 season or that they were doing anything during the 2019 season."
Rob Manfred was unimpressive in today's ESPN interview. He said he'd "work with the Astros to help them put this behind them." Why do the Astros get help from the commissioner? Why should this be put behind them?
The last question in the interview says everything. In today's world of judgment by public opinion, @MLB will be punished for their handling of the cheating. Spin it anyway you want Manfred. You had a chance to be a leader and you chose not to. Too bad. https://t.co/ubrQJRb41T
Manfred will survive this. The Astros will, too. And no one will be happy — not even the Astros, who apparently don’t feel a great deal of remorse for their actions.
This is the online version of our morning newsletter, The Morning Win. Subscribe to get irreverent and incisive sports stories, delivered to your mailbox every morning.
On Wednesday I wrote about the Houston Astros being cowards. I called them that word because on the first day that pitchers and catchers reported to spring training the team did not allow media into their facilities and the team even roped off parking lot and had it heavily guarded by security.
I saw that as extremely cowardly because the team knew that the media would be wanting to get some answers about the embarrassing cheating scandal from some pitchers and catches, most notably Justin Verlander, who ended up speaking to reporters on Wednesday and said he wished he would have spoken up when he saw his teammates cheating: “I wish I had said more and I didn’t, and for that I am sorry.”
Well, now it turns out that I was wrong to call them cowards and I must apologize for calling them that. My parents raised me to admit when I was wrong and to say sorry when necessary.
So, I’m sorry.
The Astros aren’t cowards.
They’re just idiots.
I mean, did you see how they handled their “apologies” on Thursday? They had months to figure out the best way to handle this and they apparently settled on being a real-life version of that GIF where the guy walks to the car with a handful of things only to slip and drop them all in spectacular fashion.
The Houston Astros had PR companies across the globe pointing and laughing at them.
Then 55 seconds later, when pressed on that statement, Crane said: “I didn’t say it didn’t impact the game.”
I mean, to steal a line from another popular GIF, we are laughing!
But Crane’s incredibly poor apology wasn’t even the worst one, which tells you just how amazing this entire fail by the team was on Thursday.
Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve apologized for their actions with such little genuineness that it was stunning and laughable. Everyone on Twitter instantly starting comparing their apologies to Dwight Schrute’s hilarious non-apology from The Office.
Bregman said: “I am really sorry… about the choices… that were made… by my team, by the organization, and by me. I have learned from this… and I hope to regain the trust of baseball fans.”
I mean LOL. That was basically me apologizing to my parents for coming in a few hours after curfew back in my high school days.
Altuve said: “The whole Astros organization feels bad for what happened in 2017. We especially feel remorse for the impact on our fans and the game of baseball. And our teams is determined to move forward and play with intensity and bring back a championship to Houston in 2020.”
Again, they had months to figure this thing out and that’s how they handled it?
Woof.
This year is going to be a mess for this team, and rightfully so. They don’t deserve any forgiveness, at least not yet.
Because what happened on Thursday was another embarrassing day for a franchise that is getting used to those.
Thursday’ biggest winner: Tristan Thompson’s take on LeBron’s diet.
(Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images)
The Athletic published a great story on Thursday that had a bunch of people who know LeBron James pretty well tell their favorite LeBron James stories. Former teammate Tristan Thompson dished on LeBron’s diet, which sounds like a lot of fun but not like something that should power such a phenomenal athlete. LeBron LOVES dessert and breakfast.
Quick hits: Tiger’s tribute to Kobe… Crazy Zion facts… Pitches for Tom Brady… And more!
The sports world has been waiting since November to hear apologies from the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the baseball offseason.
The sports world has been waiting since November to hear apologies from the Houston Astros for the sign-stealing scandal that rocked the baseball offseason.
The Houston Astros’ apologies on Thursday haven’t exactly gone over well.
Owner Jim Crane, players Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman, and new manager Dusty Baker all spoke to the media. Altuve and Bregman didn’t take questions. Crane did and was slammed everywhere for his answers.
So that led to lots and lots of jokes about the whole thing on Twitter, many of them using Dwight Schrute’s non-apology from The Office, from the two-part “Stress Relief” episodes in which he was asked to apologize for staging a fire to teach his co-workers a lesson about safety when there’s a blaze.
Here’s the clip:
And here a bunch of people using that clip in the context of what the Astros said on Thursday:
That was the worst apology since Dwight's after he caused Stanley's heart attack in the office. Basically, they built this who circus just to say "We regret what we did" FOH
