Thus far, several prominent members of the Los Angeles Dodgers have weighed in on the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing and subsequent lack of believable apology. Already, Cody Bellinger and Clayton Kershaw have given their differing but genuine thoughts on the subject. Now, closer Kenley Jansen got in on the action.
In short, he’s not impressed.
Kenley Jansen spoke his mind about the #Astros situation this morning. He called their punishment the weakest in the history of sports. He said their cheating is worse than steroids and gambling. And he wondered why José Altuve would sit on a slider against Aroldis Chapman.
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) February 15, 2020
First he calls out the punishment — or lack thereof for players at least — as the “weakest in sports history. This just so happens to come one day after a European soccer club was banned for two seasons and fined $30 euros for financial transgressions.
While the crimes obviously aren’t exactly the same, the divide between the levels of punishment is astonishing.
Nevertheless, Kenley continues his thoughts with Bill Plunkett of the OC Register.
#Dodgers Kenley Jansen called Astros sign-stealing "worse than gambling, worse than steroids."
"At least back then (steroid era), everyone had to be on steroids. It was a fair game."— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 15, 2020
Notably, Jansen feels that the Astros’ antics were the lowest of the low.
Kenley Jansen called Astros sign-stealing “worse than gambling, worse than steroids.” “At least back then (steroid era), everyone had to be on steroids. It was a fair game.”
Of course, you remember that the Dodgers were about to go up two games to none on the Astros in Los Angeles when Marwin Gonzalez took a piece of Jansen that he can never have back. After that, the series became the topsy turvy affair that it is known as today.
The only difference is what we have learned since.
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Some speculate that Jansen, as we know him, has never been the same since that swing by Marwin Gonzalez. Indeed, that was in a road park. But the bottom line is throughout that entire series, the Dodgers were walking into a booby trap and stacked deck.
Obviously legacies were changed forever, and they will be forever bound as brothers and ‘should be’ champions because of what Houston chose to do.
Now with Jansen’s thoughts out there, three of the most prominent Dodgers from that fateful 2017 squad have spoken. All we can do is hope for some retribution, and the 2020 version of the Dodgers are set to open the season tied with the Yankees as favorites in the sport to win it all.
Do you agree with Jansen? Was it the worst form of cheating in the history of the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
NEXT: Carlos Correa Proclaims 2017 Astros as Clean Winners and Focuses on Cody Bellinger Error
