As more allegations emerge about the Houston Astros’ cheating, more players are feeling emboldened to speak out.
On Thursday, that included some members of the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost to the Astros in the 2017 World Series, the year MLB confirmed Houston cheated during games.
In response to allegations of the Astros using electronic buzzers to communicate stolen signs , 2019 NL MVP Cody Bellinger said he hoped the allegations were not true. He hoped for “major consequences to the players.”
His teammate, pitcher Alex Wood, put into context just how bad the Astros stealing and illegally communicating signs in real-time is for a pitcher.
Wood similarly lamented the lack of punishments for players.
When MLB handed out punishments on Monday, the Astros franchise was hit by penalties and GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were fired. Alex Cora, a former Astros bench coach, was also named and lost his job as Red Sox skipper.
Carlos Beltran was the only player named, and that’s because he’s no longer playing. MLB otherwise left players out of it and did not discipline them. Beltran, however, was forced to step away as new manager of the New York Mets.
The prevailing feeling following the penalties was that the Astros got off too easy. As more comes out, that feeling will likely magnify.
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