Both the Red Sox and the Astros
cheat, but the Astros get punished harder.
Why do you think that is?
Cynics might say both punishments
meted out for electronic sign-stealing are nothing more than pulled punches. Correct me if I’m wrong here, but
Commissioner Rob Manfred didn’t rule the 2017 and 2018 World Series wins by the
Astros and Red Sox, respectively, were free of cheating, did he? I mean, if the Red Sox were caught cheating
in the Fall Classic, that would sort of force Manfred’s hand, now wouldn’t it? Come down hard on one of the darling franchises
in all of sports? Cynics wouldn’t hold
their breath.
No, what they’d do instead is say
the old expansion team took the bigger fake punch. Yes, I know the commissioner said the Sox
didn’t cheat as much, and you can’t punish general manager Dave Dombrowski
because he’s the ex-GM. But you wonder,
don’t you? At least I do. The Red Sox lose one draft choice, the Astros
four. If cheating is so bad, shouldn’t
the punishment of both teams be equivalent?
One more thing—all the suspensions
Manfred handed down were for the 2020 season.
What if there isn’t one? Do all
these guys get to come back or circulate their résumés in 2021? If he has the power to amend his rulings, the
commissioner needs to indicate the suspensions runs for the next 162 regular-season
games played, however long that takes.
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