Dodgers, MLB Teams Fear Punishment if They Speak Out Against Astros Ruling
What is a good scandal without individuals being forced into silence? Right now, that’s what is happening in the game of baseball by those who run MLB (cough, Rob Manfred).
Remember the Los Angeles Dodgers’ non-statement issued on the official twitter account days ago? Obviously, the organization had more to say. Veiled nicely underneath that statement was probably a little hostility not only over being robbed of a title or two, but not being allowed the right to free speech.
Now, Jeff Passan of ESPN writes about how there is some anger boiling behind the scenes amongst clubs around baseball. To say the least – the Dodgers are one of the included – if not the team at the forefront of this.
"Multiple ownership-level sources told ESPN that dissatisfaction with the penalties had emerged following a conference call with Manfred."
Tough scene, really hate to see it.https://t.co/r1Zs5v3zrx
— Ben DuBose (@BenDuBose) January 14, 2020
First, check out this quote. This one could make you a little angry.
[adace-ad id=”118525″]“The impression,” one person familiar with the call told ESPN, “was that the penalty for complaining would be more than Houston got.”
It’s ludicrous to think that baseball and the commissioner want to silence members of its sport in the wake of one of the biggest scandals ever. Now why would they do that? For one, they want this to die and go away. Talking about it creates more problems, as we are learning day-by-day in this debacle. The more teams and players talk, the more this will become a frontline story that Manfred doesn’t want.
Still, it’s no way to deal with the problem. The quotes don’t stop there.
Next, a Dodgers spokesman (presumably) translates what the Dodgers’ organization no-comment really meant.
“Crane won,” he said. “The entire thing was programmed to protect the future of the franchise. He got his championship. He keeps his team. His fine is nothing. The sport lost, but Crane won.”
Finally, Cody Bellinger and Alex Wood let their feelings be heard on Thursday. Will the league’s MVP and a notable pitcher who faced Houston in the 2017 World Series face punishment? Time will tell, and if they do we should have our wallets ready to pay their fine. A suspension of either player could bring about a fan revolt.
NEXT: Kobe Says Fans Should Move on From Astros Talk
Every team should come out and complain. I would. He cant penalize every team and player that played against them during the year. If he does, the owners will force Manfred out. What he did as a punishment is nothing. Now every team knows that they can cheat and nothing will really hurt them. 4 draft picks? Who says the picks make it anyways. $5 million fine? He made more than that off WS Championship shirts, hats, ect sold. Its a joke. Manfred couldn’t shut me up. He’s now part of the blame for this as he has no balls to do what truly needs to be done. Vacate the trophies and championships all while banning the two owners for 5 years minimum slong with NO draft picks for 2 years. Hit them hard, real hard
Teams may be barred from speaking out, but it won’t prevent them from retaliate, especially the Yankees. Look for Yankee pitchers to drill Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman first meeting May 15th in Houston. The Yankees also get 4 home games against the Astros from Sept. 21st – 24th, I gaurantee you benches will clear in that series – Yankees get home field advantage, Astros will be doomed that weekend.
Yankees will get the final laugh:
“Hey, Jose, how’s that 100mph bullet feel in your head?” – Love from Aroldis
I need to see this
it came to me that a true fitting penality would to, in addition to existing penalties, add a simple 2yr ban from any postseason play for the Astros and perhaps the BoxSox if they are as complicit. That is doable and would drive home the actual black mark the scandal has brought to the game. It likely would cost the league a bit of revenue, maybe, but the league has to step up in decisive fashion to return the illusion of integrity. Weren’t the total revenue numbers of 2018 in the $6B range? what’s been done so far is just for show.
Also at stake, which no article has discussed, is the fragile nature of MLB’s antitrust exception. I’m sure it is why there were any penalties…if MLB had done nothing it’s possible there could have been a close look by the Feds. The exception to antitrust is the most valuable “property” MLB posseses.
The Rep from IL has already sent in the paperwork to start an investigation into this fiasco.
Maybe MLB should add another penalty for cheating. Don’t just talk about or actually vacate past championships for cheaters. You could make them ineligible for future postseason play. You could make the Astros ineligible for the 2020 postseason. You could even go multi-year, perhaps one year of ineligibility for every year of confirmed cheating. The past is past and can be shrugged off, but threaten someone’s future and they will take notice.
Pathetic sports league
The crime does not fit the punishment. Team owners, managers, and players should protest. It puts a black mark on MLB. with the slap on hand that was given to the Astros.
Manfred will punish those who speak out because that is the kind of corrupt leader he is. Yup, I can see him being a man now. LOL. I don’t know how anyone can go to a baseball game anymore and not believe baseball in America has lost its integrity. Manfred’s investigation determined that there was cheating and the title remains with the cheaters? What good does an investigation do if the criminals are not punished? The credibility of all of baseball is lost. Even though the Dodgers did not cheat, it is hard to view any team with trust. Even a Dodger game is suspect. I never grasped how dishonest MLB has been, for so long, and to think I paid very good money to watch, what has become boxing. Manfred had a chance to save baseball, but he chose to protect crooks.
Show me a corrupt father (commissioner) and I will show you corrupt children (players).
There are now two organizations that protect the guilty…the Catholic church and MLB
If we all refuse to watch or attend until they dole out a fitting punishment?
I’ve said this before. Manfred needs to be ousted as commissioner of baseball , he has done nothing for the game since being hired …. He’s trying to change a game that’s been the same for 100 years, what he has done with the Astros, is make cheating ok , telling other teams not to respond to this is plain stupid , if I’m a mlb owner player coach I would say exactly what I’m feeling, we as loyal fans have a right to know what other teams players coaches think …. We pay those coaches players commissioners salaries by showing up to games … If it wasn’t for us fans mlb would no longer be , and these owners players coaches need to realize this if we dont show up or watch these games buy a Jersey or 3 they dont get paid period , I can go on more but I’ve made my point , really thinking about not watching mlb this year
It’s easy for other teams/fans to say “Fuhgettaboutit”!!! But as a Dodgers fan who’s been waiting since 1988 for a Series WIN…it ain’t soooo easy! AND to find out that we had probably won in 2017….and maybe even possibly 2018 due to cheating…..IT REALLY AIN’T SO EASY!!!
I think at the least the Astro’s should lose the championship trophy and either the Dodgers or both teams be given asterisks and a dual credit as champs!
The gutless Manfred just made this whole thing worse by any talks or threats of discipline for those (especially Dodgers) for speaking out against this slap on the wrist punishment.
Let me ask you all this…the very least the Commissioner, who is gutless should do is award those forfeited draft picks from the Astros to the Dodgers for both 2020 and 2021. What do ya think about this here?
Oh Hell No, when Lance got caught cheating, they stripped him of all his medals and wins in the Tour de France When Olympic atheletes get caught cheating, they do not keep the Gold Medal. The Astros cheated the other teams in the AL and the Dodgers in the NL, and the players and teams were severely hurt in many ways. So hell no, we should not just laugh it off. Strip the Astros of their WS win, return the trophy, return the rings, and we can just have NO winner of the WS in 2017. MLB must grow some courage and do what is necessary, not fold like all the other CEO’s due to cowardice or fear of offending.
Excellent post I agree whole heartedly
Everyone keeps saying MLB would face repercussions from MLBPA if they penalize the players…from what I have seen on both Twitter & IG, I disagree with that assessment . The players are PISSED and want justice. The outcome of this was a joke
Spot on. The players are wanting to speak out against not only the Astros, but the Red Sox. Alex Cora created a perfect system and won two WS. The Astros are the worst though and I can’t stand watching clips of them celebrating like they achieved some kind of hard won victory. We all knew something was afoul during the series with the Dodgers. Some thought it may have been the Umpires. Now we know it was the Astros themselves cheating. Who knows, the Umps may have been cheating also for all we know.
Did the USA turn into China while I wasn’t looking. We still have free speech in the Bill of Rights don’t we? MLB teams freely agree to play under MLB rules. It’s part of the price of admission. I get that. But it looks really bad to muzzle people and teams who express their displeasure at cheating/immorality. You’re supposed to be displeased with that.
My dad was right. MLB is fixed.
The Feds and MLB should come down hard on the Astro’s. Just like they did to Pete Rose. Other wise apologies to Pete. “America’s Game” no more.
I need to express in writing the thoughts which have consumed my mind, and the mind of every baseball fan I know, since the first report of cheating during the 2017 MLB season. It was extremely disappointing to watch talented baseball players, managers and others in high ranking positions engage in dishonest behavior. Major League Baseball is as American as apple pie and it embodied much of what we hold as sources of pride in our culture. Baseball, especially within the Dodger organization, embodied values of honesty and good will. They portray the values we teach our children in a highly public way. This is very important to all families who take their children to see baseball games. It has been a sport where fairness and appropriate behavior is not only displayed but expected of its players. Lets start with some common sense: Figuring out a pitcher and the other teams tactics is not cheating. But when electronic equipment is used as surveillance to gain an undue advantage over another team this undue advantage ended the fairness we expected in the game. This activity is definitely cheating and no self respecting athlete should have taken part in it. All who did, violated the trust we baseball fans put on them as we paid for stadium tickets or cable networks to watch their games. We have been defrauded. We expected honest games and we paid to watch honest games but we did not get what we paid for. I cannot express in words the outrage and extreme disappointment that has plagued my mind since this scandal was aired to the public. I am so heartbroken at the way the dreams of our Dodgers, Yankees, and other players were destroyed. For the Dodgers, on more than one occasion, during the World Series they were made to feel a false sense of failure in front of their family and fans. The cheating caused this unnecessary trauma. It occurred and would have continued to occur had it not been exposed in a public way through a publication. Those who published the story are true heroes who demonstrated that they truly care about the sport. And I, as a fan, appreciate their sacrifices and effort to bring this issue to light. I, as a fan however, will not be appeased until I see the following actions taken to, in some minor way, remedy the situation.1. The Houston Astros should have their World Series Trophies withdrawn.2. All players of the Houston Astros should have their World Series rings withdrawn.3. All financial benefits paid to those athletes and team should be withdrawn in the form of fines to benefit a worthy cause.4. The Houston Astros franchise should be shut down as their leadership is incapable of honoring the standards set for all major league baseball teams. 5. All those caught cheating should be banned from Major League Baseball.6. The MLB Commissioner who sat on the cheating evidence for two years and did not act should be removed from his position. He did not remedy the situation until the public was informed and was then forced to act. I have no faith in this commissioner as he has proven to be incapable of fulfilling his job and duty.Until these demands are met my faith in the sport will not be restored. Those who heroically came forward to volunteer information regarding the cheating and did so before being forced to talk should be rewarded. Ken Rosenthal walked through fire to bring attention to this activity which was destroying the sport. I’m sure Mr Rosenthal made many enemies reporting what he knew. But he did it anyway to save our beloved sport of baseball for the coming generations. It is Mr Rosenthal’s actions and that of those heroes who came forward who restore my faith that we can fix this.Lets make something positive of all this. Use the withdrawn funds to start a program that teaches ethics to young athletes. Within the Hall of Fame in baseball place a corner display with the trophies and rings and call it “The Hall of Shame”. Let it be known that harsh punishment awaits those who dare defraud the sport. And let the program on ethics inspire all of us to strive for a better set of values where honesty and good sportsmanship is honored above all.Sincerely,A Baseball Fan