As we get further away from MLB’s official punishment of the Houston Astros in their cheating indictment becoming final, the chatter about whether or not the punishment was enough continues to be heard. In fact, over the weekend, it hit a fever pitch as MLB commissioner Rob Manfred sat down for a one-on-one with ESPN about a variety of topics surrounding the cheating scandal.
The loudest noise heard after that interview involved Manfred’s decision to not vacate the Astros’ 2017 World Series title, and how MLB came to that decision. It should be noted that the commissioner and his cronies did consider vacating or adding an asterisk to the championship, but chose not to go down that road.
Manfred defends MLB punishment of Astros https://t.co/MS0LhXZy8L
— Buster Olney (@Buster_ESPN) February 16, 2020
Here’s what Manfred told ESPN’s Karl Ravich.
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.
This can be broken down in so many ways — and the internet did quite spectacularly — but something underlying that sticks out in Manfred’s willingness to de-value the trophy that literally every single player dedicates his life each day to win. On Sunday we learned that the Commissioner’s Trophy is just a piece of metal.
it was just a passing comment, but I keep thinking about the fact that Rob Manfred called the World Series trophy "a piece of metal" during his press conference
it's way more than a piece of metal for a lot of people pic.twitter.com/Xt8F1KFzgb
— Joon Lee (@joonlee) February 17, 2020
Cool Rob.
LA Times scribe Bill Plaschke wasn’t thrilled either.
Manfred says he didn't strip Astros of title because "the idea of…asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile idea." Really? The WS championship is just a piece of metal? The corporate commish still doesn't have a clue https://t.co/w1xSB5obwr
— Bill Plaschke (@BillPlaschke) February 16, 2020
While Astro shortstop Carlos Correa has come out and defended Houston’s accomplishment as earned fair and square, other players from around the league aren’t singing the same tune.
Of course, the “Carlos Correa: Astros Crisis Management Officer” saga was cemented after Cody Bellinger came out and slammed the poorly executed apology press conference hosted by the organization. Along the way, Bellinger also slammed Jose Altuve, alluding to the buzzer system being in full-effect last season. Correa clapped back at Bellinger’s comments as the drama continued.
On Sunday, former Dodger Yu Darvish was pretty straight forward in saying the Astros really just need to shut up right now, as he defended Bellinger in the Correa squabble.
More and more people connected to the game continue to voice their opinions on vacating the title, and Manfred is essentially dismissing them… Because he made his decision. And because the Astros players have to look at themselves in the mirror and deal with it…
Manfred said they thought about stripping the Astros of their World Series title but decided not to because there was zero precedent and he wanted the public to judge the facts.
Hey pal, all of the fans and the players want the title stripped. Now what?
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) February 16, 2020
Manfred's insistence that the public shame is the real punishment here is an absolute joke. You are the commissioner. It's your job to punish the players. None of the current Astros players feel any remorse.
— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) February 16, 2020
At a certain point you wonder if Manfred really doesn’t have a clue, or simply doesn’t care. But it’s nice to know that the Astros can keep the meaningless piece of metal they acquired illegitimately in 2017.
NEXT: Kenley Jansen Calls Sign-Stealing Worse Than Steroids
