Shut Up, Dusty

The more I think about the Astros sign-stealing scandal, the angrier I get. What really set me off was reading that new Astros manager Dusty Baker wants MLB to protect his players from retribution from opposing players.

Shut up, Dusty. Your players deserve whatever is coming to them.  If I'm a pitcher and facing the Astros, I sure as hell consider knocking them down and making life as unpleasant as possible. And on the bases, infielders Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve are going to be marked men on sliding plays at second base. And Phillies advisor Larry Bowa has called for pitchers to drill Astros hitters at every opportunity.

The Astros players are already immune from punishment, thanks to a deal with MLB in exchange for information about the scandal. So as Dodgers pitcher Alex Wood pointed out today, a pitcher who hits an Astro will probably get suspended while the Astro gets a free base. It's wrong on so many levels.

Every player on the Astros roster from 2017 needs to be suspended as some form of punishment. I think 100-game suspensions would be in order. Pete Rose and Shoeless Joe Jackson got banned for life for gambling. This cheating, which Astros owner Jim Crane said didn't affect the outcome of any games (that's a whole other rant), had all kind of ramifications from guys losing jobs and missing out on awards and championships.

You could suspend groups of guys so the suspensions would overlap. But there's no way these cheating scumbags should get off scot-free. The manager and general manager lost their jobs over this. The players need to pay.