When one of the best baseball players of his generation speaks, his words carry a lot of weight.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout held nothing back Monday when he discussed the Houston Astros‘ sign-stealing scandal that has rocked Major League Baseball.
In short, the three-time American League MVP believes the punishment handed down by commissioner Rob Manfred does not fit the crime.
“It’s sad for baseball,” Trout said. “It’s tough. They cheated. I don’t agree with the punishments, the players not getting anything. It was a player-driven thing. It sucks, too, because guys’ careers have been affected. A lot of people lost jobs. It was tough.”
After an investigation confirmed the Astros used a video camera to steal the opposing catcher’s signs in 2017 en route to winning the World Series that year, Manfred suspended Houston manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow for one year.
Both men were subsequently fired by Astros owner Jim Crane but Manfred virtually provided immunity to the players who were involved in baseball’s biggest black mark since the 1919 Black Sox scandal.
The ruling is not sitting well with Trout, who questioned the decision after he reported to the Angels’ spring training facility on Monday.
Trout didn’t offer what the punishment should have been, but he did say “the players getting nothing, that’s definitely not right, for sure.”
There’s no telling if Manfred will reverse course after hearing a similar tune from several players around the big leagues but it appears the Astros will continue to be public enemy No. 1 for the foreseeable future.
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