Manfred stays behind Astros punishment, not punishing players

The criticism of Major League Baseball’s lack of punishment against the Astros players is staggering. Commissioner Rob Manfred defended his punishment Sunday afternoon for the Houston Astros sign stealing in 2017.

The league announced its discipline of the Astros in January suspending general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch for the 2020 season while fining the organization $5 million and stripping four draft picks.

Manfred Explains

Manfred’s reasoning to not giving punishment to the players was he could not find evidence.

He later said there is no evidence, not a single witness who could corroborate that there were buzzers being used by the players.

Manfred also says any retaliation toward the Astros will be not tolerated.

"The 2017 World Series will always be looked at different "

Rob Manfred says he considered stripping the Astros of the World Series, but ultimately decided against it pic.twitter.com/ppGHxmofWY

— SNY (@SNYtv) February 16, 2020

“Yeah, I understand. I understand people’s desire to have the players pay a price for what went on here,” Manfred said. “I think if you watch the players, watch their faces when they have to deal with this issue publicly, they have paid a price. To think they’re skipping down the road into spring training, happy, that’s just a mischaracterization of where we are. Have said that, the desire to have actual discipline imposed on the, I understand it and in a perfect world it would have happened. We ended up where we ended up in pursuit of really, I think, the most important goal of getting the facts and getting them out there for people to know it.”

While Manfred still continues to defend his position, the players are still not happy.

Players Voice Frustration

Players across the league have voiced their opinions on the decision Manfred made. Los Angles Angels superstar Mike Trout said it’s tough it’s not good for baseball and sad to see.

Mike Trout is not happy with the Astros and the punishment they received pic.twitter.com/VDwJCFZXHl

— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) February 17, 2020

Another player, Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, voiced his frustrations. He made it clear that he wants the 2017 World Series taken away from the Astros.

Justin Turner was honest in his response to Comissioner Manfred’s statements about the Commissioner’s Trophy pic.twitter.com/3leAZKGOoG

— Nikki Kay (@NikkiKaySN1) February 17, 2020

With games starting Friday, teams have reported to spring training for the 2020 season and the Astros are still the top headline in the league.