Around Baseball 2020

[DigitalRock]

Great quote by Boyd.

 

Not really.

[Brownie19]

"They've got to live with it. That's more than enough punishment."

 

Highly debatable. The Astros players are hiding behind the Commissioner's report, likely covering up certain other facts and methods of cheating that have not become public, and they are not even admitting that their cheating might have helped them win the World Series.

 

And wouldn't living with those secrets and the shame that will now be associated with those players for the rest of their careers (lives?) be considered punishment? I mean great, they can claim they're world series champions, but when everyone else in the room seems them as frauds - doesn't it lose a lot of it's luster?

 

I mean even their kids are going to have to grow up in an environment where they are recognized as the son/daughter of one of those cheating Astros.

[Brownie19]

Not really.

 

[Laika]

No. I don't think "living with shame" is an adequate punishment. Also, they have not even demonstrated that they are honestly shameful! They have stated in public that they don't even think the cheating necessarily helped them win! They haven't owned up to f***ing anything in a sincere way, and essentially all they have said is "we collectively regret doing the things that the report specifically said that we did."

[glory]

The Astros being booed in every stadium is actually one of the bright spots for MLB this season. In a league that wants more fan interest, having a universal villain that every fan base despises is an unintended benefit to this whole thing. Thankfully none of the fans will listen to Boyd so his quote is meaningless. Also as mentioned, the Astros have shown zero remorse through this whole process.

[Brownie19]

No. I don't think "living with shame" is an adequate punishment. Also, they have not even demonstrated that they are honestly shameful! They have stated in public that they don't even think the cheating necessarily helped them win! They haven't owned up to f***ing anything in a sincere way, and essentially all they have said is "we collectively regret doing the things that the report specifically said that we did."

 

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-derek-fisher-regrets-keeping-mum-astros-cheating/

 

I mean Derek Fisher sure seems to have publicly stated his regret.

 

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2020/02/08/rays-morton-on-astros-cheating-i-regret-not-doing-more-to-stop-it/

 

Charlie Morton has publicly stated his regret.

 

I don't listen to the PR ******** you heard from a couple of Astros players and their owner in that public interview. That isn't reality - that's them saying what they were told to say. I guess the reality is we have no idea how the players really feel about this, or how it will impact the rest of their lives. It may impact some a lot more than others. Personally, I suspect most truly regret it and will suffer from having to carry this with them for the rest of their careers and lives.

 

Altuve goes from being one of the most beloved players in baseball - on his way to a potential HOF induction to the biggest villain in baseball. All so he can win a world series that is now almost universally considered tainted? I can't help but think this has had a huge negative impact on his life.

[Laika]

https://www.sportsnet.ca/baseball/mlb/blue-jays-derek-fisher-regrets-keeping-mum-astros-cheating/

 

I mean Derek Fisher sure seems to have publicly stated his regret.

 

https://www.tampabay.com/sports/rays/2020/02/08/rays-morton-on-astros-cheating-i-regret-not-doing-more-to-stop-it/

 

Charlie Morton has publicly stated his regret.

 

I don't listen to the PR ******** you heard from a couple of Astros players and their owner in that public interview. That isn't reality - that's them saying what they were told to say. I guess the reality is we have no idea how the players really feel about this, or how it will impact the rest of their lives. It may impact some a lot more than others. Personally, I suspect most truly regret it and will suffer from having to carry this with them for the rest of their careers and lives.

 

Altuve goes from being one of the most beloved players in baseball - on his way to a potential HOF induction to the biggest villain in baseball. All so he can win a world series that is now almost universally considered tainted? I can't help but think this has had a huge negative impact on his life.

 

Derek Fisher and Charlie Morton were essentially not even participants in the scheme. They are also making statements like that as personal PR to appeal to their current fan bases.

 

The core position players of the 2017-2018-2019 teams are the ones who need to own up to things. They have not shown adequate remorse. If anything, their public statements have only raised more questions. And we do know how they feel about it because they have all talked about it publicly and what they said was lame as s*** and not credible.

 

Players like Bregman, Correa, and Altuve aren't going to make statements written by Jim Crane. The fact they their opinions are so aligned with the owner's lack of professed responsibility is because they are all in responsibility-bucking cahoots together. A bunch of weasels.

 

An adequate display of remorse would be if the players all came together, auctioned off their World Series rings, donated the proceeds to charity, then held a media event where they talked at length about everything that happened, full disclosure, no two-faced ******** that only peels back the veil as much as Rob Manfred has already lazily done.

[Dick_Pole]

This whole Astros thing feels like a Twitter outrage mob finally coming to real life

 

Ushers had to be there to block the 5,000 senior citizens watching pre-season baseball in Florida from gathering around the Astros dugout and booing them? LOL hilarious.

 

If I happen to be at a game when the Astros are playing, I will sit there quietly in a counter-protest to the protest. They cheated to win through sign stealing, something that is perfectly fine in baseball when you don't use too much technology and not at all like the Black Sox situation. I hope everyone booing them never cheated on a test in high school. Something about stones and glass houses.

[Laika]

I hope everyone booing them never cheated on a test in high school. Something about stones and glass houses.

 

Quite a comparison.

 

The Astros are currently being sued for what they did. Not just by damaged players, but I believe by online gambling websites and fans. Bolsinger's lawsuit might have the only chance of going anywhere. I believe he is suing them for "unfair business practices, negligence and intentional interference with contractual relations" which seems appropriate even if he probably can't show damages in a clear enough way to get any money out of them.

 

It doesn't make sense to minimize what they did. It was intentional cheating with multi-million dollar consequences for a host of other parties.

[Dick_Pole]

Quite a comparison.

 

The Astros are currently being sued for what they did. Not just by damaged players, but I believe by online gambling websites and fans. Bolsinger's lawsuit might have the only chance of going anywhere. I believe he is suing them for "unfair business practices, negligence and intentional interference with contractual relations" which seems appropriate even if he probably can't show damages in a clear enough way to get any money out of them.

 

It doesn't make sense to minimize what they did. It was intentional cheating with multi-million dollar consequences for a host of other parties.

 

It does to me. You can't force someone else to have a strong opinion about this so-called cheating. Maybe if I had bet against them in the course of 2017. LOL @ Bolsinger and double LOL @ the bookies trying to sue. Are they going to sue for losses but try to keep the winnings from people who bet against the Astros?

 

The MLB has absolutely no moral authority over this. They turned their back on the steroids issue because it was convenient for dingers and putting asses in seats, now retroactively punish players including the BBWAA arbitrarily blacklisting some of the best players from the HOF. The Astros clanged on pots and pans like coordinated 2 year olds for months and nobody from the MLB noticed (or more likely, nobody cared) and three years later the issue is coming out and everyone pretends to be up in arms. Where were the Mariners or Rangers or A's or Angels in all this? They played in Houston 9-10 times that year and not one of the dozens of employees at the game were smart enough to notice this pattern? To me that's their own stupid-ass fault.

 

The MLB is weak and anyone willing to bend the rules to their absolute limit in an attempt to maximize their success and payout is smart to me. I hope things like this continue coming out until the MLB gets its house in order. We know more of this type of stuff is happening.

[Laika]

It does to me. You can't force someone else to have a strong opinion about this so-called cheating.

 

I'm not saying that you have to care, but you just said that nobody else who feels strongly about it is allowed to if they so much as cheated on a test in high school.

 

You're a trader. On the spectrum of wrong doings, what the Astros did is closer to insider trading than it is to peeking at your desk-mate's answers. They expressly and knowingly chose to play outside of the established rules, and they reaped significant financial rewards in the process.

 

(Also, there are reports that certain players and teams reported their suspicions to the Commissioner a couple of years ago and Manfred did nothing).

[Dick_Pole]

I'm not saying that you have to care, but you just said that nobody else who feels strongly about it is allowed to if they so much as cheated on a test in high school.

 

You're a trader. On the spectrum of wrong doings, what the Astros did is closer to insider trading than it is to peeking at your desk-mate's answers. They expressly and knowingly chose to play outside of the established rules, and they reaped significant financial rewards in the process.

 

(Also, there are reports that certain players and teams reported their suspicions to the Commissioner a couple of years ago and Manfred did nothing).

 

They can care if they don't mind being hypocrites. That's the entire Twitter outrage mob. s*** all over someone who got caught doing something bad so they can feel better about their own immoral life.

 

Insider traders are some of the most successful in the world. I'm talking about the Goldman Sachs types who never get caught or face any penalties. They are the MLB stars of the world. The retail schmucks like us are the ones who are the test cheaters who end up going to jail if they are caught. Some dude went to prison for 2 years because he faked an SEC filing on Fitbit in order to pump the price and make a grand total of $3,000 on his call options, lol. Meanwhile the brokers can push a stock like Phunware from $10 to $500 in weeks and back down under $1.00 with absolutely no penalty.

 

As far as your final paragraph, this goes right back to my statement about the MLB leadership being weak. It took a whistleblower before they could no longer ignore the issue. So who is really to blame here?

[King]

Severino tommy john

[Spanky__99]

Severino tommy john

 

Welp!

[Brownie19]

Severino tommy john

 

Better call up CC

[Spanky__99]

Better call up CC

 

They've got Loaisiga/Montgomery and Cessa, but a huge hit, no doubt.

[Jimcanuck]

Chisox now trying to lock down Moncada. A dynasty in the making, or will it all fall apart?

[glory]

Considering the timing of the TJS, Severino obviously misses all of 2020, but likely misses most or all of 2021 as well if you use 18 months as the more realistic cut off for a SP after the surgery. That's a really bad break for the Yankees. Severino looks really good now for signing that extension. He will make $10.5m in 2020 and $10.75m in 2021 which are both likely to be wash seasons. If he went through year to year arb, he would have been f***ed.

[Pendleton]

Better call up CC

 

[Bobthe4th]

Based on the Yankees' luck last year, this means that Nick Tropeano will now have a Cy Young type season!

[Spanky__99]

Chisox now trying to lock down Moncada. A dynasty in the making, or will it all fall apart?

 

They're dreaming... I see no arms.

[Spanky__99]

Based on the Yankees' luck last year, this means that Nick Tropeano will now have a Cy Young type season!

 

Or Losaigia, Montgomery... etc

[Beans]

Chisox now trying to lock down Moncada. A dynasty in the making, or will it all fall apart?

 

I like what they're doing, and they're going to be competitive over the next few years, but a dynasty is hard to pull off in today's game.

 

These extension moves also allow them to get in front of any potential big changes in the next CBA.

[DigitalRock]

Based on the Yankees' luck last year, this means that Nick Tropeano will now have a Cy Young type season!

 

Seems like the bat boy could hit 25 HR's and hit .280 when they put a yanks jersey on...hmm. Buzzers? lol

[glory]

 

 

Don't really pay attention to MLB's YouTube channel, but glad to see they are providing different kinds of content now. Seems like a no brainer to do more stuff like this during the off season.

[glory]

 

[devo]

[Beans]

 

 

Don't really pay attention to MLB's YouTube channel, but glad to see they are providing different kinds of content now. Seems like a no brainer to do more stuff like this during the off season.

Lorenzen could moonlight as a physiotherapist if he wanted. Dude knows his stuff!

[Brownie19]

 

 

Makes sense to me. I'd love to know what teams are using and if some teams have significant advantages over others - and/or if this benefits certain pitchers a lot more than others.

[Deadpool]

 

 

Yeah, the "pitchers get suspiciously good after they show up on the Astros roster" scandal seems to have gone away now that the "WE BANG ON THINGS! GO BOOM WHEN SLOW PITCH!" scandal broke.