Major League Baseball Needs to Protect the Integrity of the Game

MLB had no issues following the words of Mike Fiers and Twitter videos when it came to the Astros. As it turned out, they were right to investigate. They cheated and deserved to be punished. The punishment did not fit the crime because if it did they would be stripped of what they won because they didn’t really WIN it. Sure the GM and Manager were fired but why do we act like this was a little league team that cheated and it absolves the men who went along with it?

None of this makes sense, or maybe it does. MLB wants this to go away because it is, of course, bad for the game. What would be even worse for the game would be if maybe a lot more teams were involved in high-tech cheating. I think MLB is trying to squash this as quickly as possible before they have to investigate other teams, and by other teams, I do mean multiple teams.

The Red Sox have been punished also, but not to the extent that they should have been. The MLB is still investigating them and it’s hard telling what else will be fount there. Don’t get me wrong, I do not think that all of a sudden the Dodgers should be crowned 2017 World Series Champions but the title should be vacant. What kind of punishment allows the 2017 Astros to keep their World Series rings?

Thank God for Mike Fiers. Without Fiers this may have never come to light and the Astros would have escaped without a scratch. Now, for people who tell me that you can’t take away the World Series title because everybody saw them win it, I think that’s a bunch of crap! I am not advocating crowning someone else 2017 Champion, I am saying make sure you take back the Astros rings and trophy and erase the Astros from the record book. I just want MLB to hand down a harsh enough punishment that no team will ever want to try this again.

Why should the players be punished? That’s simple, they did it. Jose Altuve in an interview on Thursday said no proof was found that the Astros used buzzers, but he never once said he did not do it! The players could not be forced to cheat, this is not Little League, this is the MLB where the players get paid more valuable assets than the managers. Altuve could have said no and what would A.J. Hinch have done about it? Nothing! The players need to be held accountable because this is about the integrity of the game and as that integrity gets slowly eroded the game becomes even more insignificant than it already has.

Former Astros manager A.J. Hinch should be banned for life and the players at least suspended for a year. I really think that a lifetime banishment for this would not be unfair. Major League Baseball needs to make a statement that they are taking this seriously and stop hoping it goes away, because it’s not. As I said earlier, the Red Sox are still being investigated and in the end, more teams probably will be as time goes on.

The Astros press conference and clubhouse interviews were a joke as they tried to convince us what they did had no effect on who won the 2017 World Series. The worst answer came from Astros pitcher Justin Verlander who was asked if any other teams did this. Verlander answered that he couldn’t speak for other teams. Yet Verlander spoke for other teams and players when he was complaining in the past how PED users should get stiffer penalties.

I am sure a tell-all book will come out in a few years by a Houston Astros player that will be looking to make some money and I am sure Rob Manfred doesn’t want that to happen, but it will. Also, look for multiple lawsuits to follow in the ensuing years, so why not get ahead of the game and punish everybody according to what they have done? In the long run, it would be best for Major league Baseball to do it that way.