Astros stole signs electronically in 2017

[Cubfanintheknow]

Dusty wants MLB to stop talking about the Astros cheating scandal.

 

https://apnews.com/58215ce2afa84795aac24b50eadcfa2c

 

Just lock this thread then, I guess. :roll:

[Andy]

The buzzers are completely real and no one on Earth can convince me otherwise.

[UK]

MLB has been horribly weak.

 

Ideally...

 

I would strip them of their 2017 title.

5 year postseason ban.

For the next 10 years the luxury tax of 30% would be enabled at a payroll at 104mil.

 

MLB draft pool would be capped at 2.4 and International pool at 2.15 mil for the next ten years as well.

[jersey cubs fan]

MLB has been horribly weak.

 

Ideally...

 

I would strip them of their 2017 title.

5 year postseason ban.

For the next 10 years the luxury tax of 30% would be enabled at a payroll at 104mil.

 

MLB draft pool would be capped at 2.4 and International pool at 2.15 mil for the next ten years as well.

 

Punishing them by making them spend less is not ideal.

[minnesotacubsfan]

Has any professional team ever been stripped of their championship title?

[UK]

MLB has been horribly weak.

 

Ideally...

 

I would strip them of their 2017 title.

5 year postseason ban.

For the next 10 years the luxury tax of 30% would be enabled at a payroll at 104mil.

 

MLB draft pool would be capped at 2.4 and International pool at 2.15 mil for the next ten years as well.

 

Punishing them by making them spend less is not ideal.

 

A 30% luxury tax at 104 compared to 208 is much more than the likely 4-8 mil annually saved on draft pools.

[Bertz]

 

There's been talk that Marwin's softer than expected FA market was because teams were worried about how much of his production came from Astros devil magic. I could see Springer having problems too if he doesn't have a big platform season.

[Cubswin11]

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[Irrelevant Dude]

I don't know if this was already common knowledge, but watching MLB Network coverage of the cheating scandal over the past few nights has revealed one thing... Eric Byrnes is a complete asshat.

[Andy]

I don't know if this was already common knowledge, but watching MLB Network coverage of the cheating scandal over the past few nights has revealed one thing... Eric Byrnes is a complete asshat.

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

[cl smooth]

I don't know if this was already common knowledge, but watching MLB Network coverage of the cheating scandal over the past few nights has revealed one thing... Eric Byrnes is a complete asshat.

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

 

david ortiz IS jessica mendoza!

[soccer10k]

I don't know if this was already common knowledge, but watching MLB Network coverage of the cheating scandal over the past few nights has revealed one thing... Eric Byrnes is a complete asshat.

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

 

To be fair to Ortiz, he specifically called out Fiers for not saying anything while he was on the Astros and waiting until after he got the title to do so.

 

Fiers shouldn’t be criticized for speaking out (better late than never) but I at least understand what Ortiz is saying here. Any other pitcher or the hitters who didn’t participate could have spoken up but didn’t so credit to Fiers for doing so.

[Bote McBoteface]

Its so tempting to go the the Nats/Astros game tomorrow night and troll the cheaters

[jersey cubs fan]

I don't know if this was already common knowledge, but watching MLB Network coverage of the cheating scandal over the past few nights has revealed one thing... Eric Byrnes is a complete asshat.

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

 

To be fair to Ortiz, he specifically called out Fiers for not saying anything while he was on the Astros and waiting until after he got the title to do so.

 

Fiers shouldn’t be criticized for speaking out (better late than never) but I at least understand what Ortiz is saying here. Any other pitcher or the hitters who didn’t participate could have spoken up but didn’t so credit to Fiers for doing so.

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

[sneakypower]

I don't know if this was already common knowledge, but watching MLB Network coverage of the cheating scandal over the past few nights has revealed one thing... Eric Byrnes is a complete asshat.

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

 

david ortiz IS jessica mendoza!

[Irrelevant Dude]

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

 

To be fair to Ortiz, he specifically called out Fiers for not saying anything while he was on the Astros and waiting until after he got the title to do so.

 

Fiers shouldn’t be criticized for speaking out (better late than never) but I at least understand what Ortiz is saying here. Any other pitcher or the hitters who didn’t participate could have spoken up but didn’t so credit to Fiers for doing so.

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

Exactly. If David Ortiz tells the team to stop, they stop. If Mike Fiers stands up and says something, nobody listens and he potentially ostracizes himself from the test of the team. I understand what Ortiz is saying, but he has to look at it from the perspective of other players who are just trying to keep a job.

[soccer10k]

David Ortiz played the 'snitches' card with Fiers, too, so horsefeathers him.

 

To be fair to Ortiz, he specifically called out Fiers for not saying anything while he was on the Astros and waiting until after he got the title to do so.

 

Fiers shouldn’t be criticized for speaking out (better late than never) but I at least understand what Ortiz is saying here. Any other pitcher or the hitters who didn’t participate could have spoken up but didn’t so credit to Fiers for doing so.

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

[jersey cubs fan]

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

If all you're risking is the one thing you'll be able to make money doing in your life you're not really risking much?

Ortiz is a known PED user and all around terrible person affiliated with an organization that also got caught up in the cheating. Screw him for whining about snitches.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

I have no idea what this means but okay, it's still ridiculous.

[soccer10k]

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

If all you're risking is the one thing you'll be able to make money doing in your life you're not really risking much?

Ortiz is a known PED user and all around terrible person affiliated with an organization that also got caught up in the cheating. Screw him for whining about snitches.

 

I wasn’t aware that Fiers is completely incapable of doing any other job in life other than playing baseball. Good to know.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

I have no idea what this means but okay, it's still ridiculous.

 

I wasn’t clear on what I was referring to here, so that’s my fault. It means it’s ridiculous that the culture of baseball is such that a player can’t speak out about other players blatantly cheating without fearing his career probably ends if he does so. This is obviously a much bigger issue, and is something that isn’t just limited to baseball. Fiers shouldn’t have to choose between doing the right thing and losing his job. That needs to change.

[Tim]

 

To be fair to Ortiz, he specifically called out Fiers for not saying anything while he was on the Astros and waiting until after he got the title to do so.

 

Fiers shouldn’t be criticized for speaking out (better late than never) but I at least understand what Ortiz is saying here. Any other pitcher or the hitters who didn’t participate could have spoken up but didn’t so credit to Fiers for doing so.

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

I understand your point, but I can't quite get behind it. If he had waited to report on some form of sexual/child abuse, etc., then I'd absolutely agree. But to risk his future in the game (and setting himself and his family up for life) over the cheating scandal...not sure I can feel any indignation about the timing here.

[cl smooth]

 

To be fair to Ortiz, he specifically called out Fiers for not saying anything while he was on the Astros and waiting until after he got the title to do so.

 

Fiers shouldn’t be criticized for speaking out (better late than never) but I at least understand what Ortiz is saying here. Any other pitcher or the hitters who didn’t participate could have spoken up but didn’t so credit to Fiers for doing so.

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

 

fiers told jonathan lucroy about the sign stealing in 2018 when they were teammates on the athletics:

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28744346/catcher-jonathan-lucroy-says-was-changing-signs-every-pitch-vs-astros

 

a's went to mlb but they did nothing:

 

According to Lucroy, the Athletics informed Major League Baseball about their experience with the Astros, but no investigation was started until Fiers went on the record with The Athletic in November.

 

Athletics general manager David Forst confirmed to The Mercury News last week that Oakland complained to the league well before MLB's investigation commenced.

 

Word began spreading quickly about the Astros, and Lucroy said he would text others around the league about what he had learned.

[JudasIscariotTheBird]

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

 

fiers told jonathan lucroy about the sign stealing in 2018 when they were teammates on the athletics:

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/28744346/catcher-jonathan-lucroy-says-was-changing-signs-every-pitch-vs-astros

 

a's went to mlb but they did nothing:

 

According to Lucroy, the Athletics informed Major League Baseball about their experience with the Astros, but no investigation was started until Fiers went on the record with The Athletic in November.

 

Athletics general manager David Forst confirmed to The Mercury News last week that Oakland complained to the league well before MLB's investigation commenced.

 

Word began spreading quickly about the Astros, and Lucroy said he would text others around the league about what he had learned.

horsefeathering ridiculous.

[soccer10k]

This is a ridiculous take, imo.

 

If a guy actually called out the team while he was on it, even more people would cite his snitchiness.

 

It's ridiculous to expect some mid-roster nobody to make that move while on the team.

 

If it’s ridiculous, that says more about the culture of baseball than anything.

 

I’m giving Fiers credit for calling it out. He should have. As I said in my post, better late than never. But Fiers overlooked it when he was there, he overlooked it in 2018 and he overlooked it in 2019. He waited until after he got another $20M guaranteed after making only about $5M total through the 2017 season. He also waited until after he got a ring.

 

I’m not saying it would be easy to stand up and call them out for it, but if all you’re risking is your baseball career, well, you’re not really risking that much. Sometimes doing the right thing requires some sacrifice.

I understand your point, but I can't quite get behind it. If he had waited to report on some form of sexual/child abuse, etc., then I'd absolutely agree. But to risk his future in the game (and setting himself and his family up for life) over the cheating scandal...not sure I can feel any indignation about the timing here.

 

I definitely agree that it was a tough decision for him. I probably would have stayed silent if I was in his position also. I didn’t mean to make him seem like the bad guy because he definitely isn’t.

 

I also hadn’t seen the stuff about Fiers telling Lucroy in 2018 and them telling MLB about it and MLB doing nothing. Just makes Manfred look even worse.

[weis21]

I find it shocking that MLB would blatantly turn a blind eye on a scandal happening within the league...

 

But, just like steroids, I don’t think this is actually a loss for MLB in general. At least in regards to attention. I know NFL is over (until the draft) and NBA kind of treads water until the playoffs (to a degree), but I cannot recall a time in which baseball has gotten this much national attention in some time. Especially the offseason.

 

It’s not the worst thing for the league as a whole to have a - now verified (especially with their horrible PR and overall reaction from HOU) - villain. It certainly worked for the NFL and the Patriots with spygate and deflategate, etc. It gives people a reason to pull against a team which gives people motive to pay attention. I know, personally, I’ll be curious about how the Astros start out, how they are reacting to the backlash, and so forth. I can’t say otherwise I’d give a damn at all about following their story in 2020.

 

How long that lasts is another story but that’s view at the moment.

[Brian]

Astros out here STILL stealing signs

 

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