How The Astros Cheating Scandal Leaves The MLB in Shambles

It has been a loud drama filled offseason, and surprisingly I’m not talking about the NBA. At the start of the offseason the MLB started an investigation within the Astros organization to find out whether or not the cheating allegations were true. Three months later here we are, seeing the repercussions of said investigation come to fruition as 3 current managers who were involved, have been fired. The Astros as a whole have been penalized pretty lightly considering the severity of this incident, which is not a good example for the future of baseball. Everybody loves baseball it’s America’s Pastime, but what people often tune out is the fact that the sport has been permeated with cheating for over a century. Cheating isn’t new in baseball, it just takes different forms in each era. So how we might think the MLB has solved this case, another might be brewing right before our eyes. In the 1910s you had the infamous Black Sox throwing the World Series Scandal, in the early to middle 1900s you had managers throwing games for high stake gamblers, in the later 1900s steroids made there way into baseball, and the list goes on. This incident though has the potential to be very different, as players are still being investigated and many players in the sport have spoken out about the situation.

These are just a few of the countless reactions by players online. If I’m a betting man I would take the over on whatever the Astros hit by pitch number is for next season. A controversy has been sparked by all this, on whether or not individual players will be suspended. Some say yes suspend top guys like Altuve and Bregman, while others say if you suspend one guy you need to suspend the whole team. I myself was in the second boat, until more information surfaced from what seems to be fired Mets manager Carlos Beltrans niece. She opened up on twitter about inside information on the Astros stars.

This digs the Astros into even more deep shit, as it reveals they were cheating this season as well. Three seasons in a row they got away with it, in which guys like Altuve won MVP and Bregman this year finished in second. On top of that Altuve has continued to deny his involvement which is simply inexcusable. There is clear evidence to prove he of all people may have been the biggest cheater on the team.

https://twitter.com/dren_braves/status/1217891396176056321?s=21

Altuve has come out and said that he doesn’t like taking his shirt off, which is another complete lie considering all the walkoffs in which he ripped his shirt off faster than a kid who’s about to get laid for the first time. The crazy thing is Ken Rosenthal even asked Altuve after the game as to why he said what he said.

https://twitter.com/kylenyy/status/1217890203207184386?s=21

Asking him to repeat the question, taking a few seconds to laugh, giving an obvious lie of an answer considering all his shirtless pics online, Altuve was guilty. Not to mention that he ran to the locker room right after to change while the rest of the team celebrated, not strange at all. This is why I feel Altuve must be punished at the least of others won’t be penalized.

As the scandal continues to be picked apart the MLB right now is a mess. Three teams have a vacated manager position, players are not being held accountable for clear involvement and continue to lie about the allegations themselves, and now teams have learned the punishment for cheating is not really substantial. The state of baseball is in trouble, and the best solution would be to get Manfred out of office.

Published by Fran Cava