With teams reporting to Spring Training last week, all eyes were on the Houston Astros and how they would address their sign-stealing scandal.
The organization opted to not take questions from the media during their first day of camp, but did so the following day by holding a press conference. Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman were among the players at the podium, as well as new Astros manager Dusty Baker and owner Jim Crane.
While Altuve and Bregman showed more remorse this time around when compared to their initial comments on the matter, Crane was less than sincere with his statement.
The 66-year-old doubled down on his stance that the blatant cheating did not have an effect on the outcome of the games while opining the Astros’ 2017 World Series championship remained legitimate.
Players and managers from around the league have been critical of the Astros’ halfhearted apologies. Even former Los Angeles Dodgers infielder David Freese weighed in on the subject through Twitter, scolding the organization for their attempt to save face:
that’s it? What a f*#*!!! joke. I’m old, retired, out of the game so screw my thoughts but damn lol. All people want is something from the heart if it’s there. Something!!
— David Freese (@DavidFreese) February 13, 2020
While Freese has been outspoken about the Astros’ unfair sign-stealing practices, he previously disagreed with the notion that the Dodgers should be awarded the 2017 World Series trophy.
L.A., of course, lost to Houston in seven games during the World Series that year. Freese additionally feels the same way if MLB determines the Boston Red Sox similarly cheated during the 2018 season.
Look. There are obviously MVPs that aren’t clean. Altuve didn’t want to use the trash can, fine. Cool to see that on team trash can chart. His RBIs, runs scored, the wins. It all matters. He didn’t stop it. Hell of a player, great guy but to say the MVP is straight clean is wrong
— David Freese (@DavidFreese) February 16, 2020
The 36-year-old’s remarks seemingly are in response to the L.A. City Council unanimously approving a resolution urging MLB to strip the Astros and Red Sox of their respective World Series titles and award them to the Dodgers.
MLB commissioner Rob Manfred ruled out the possibility of taking the championship away from the Astros. He also joined Carlos Correa in taking umbrage with Cody Bellinger’s criticism.
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