Major League Baseball has been embroiled in a whirlwind of a week since announcing their findings and penalties from an investigation into the Houston Astros. MLB determined the Astros electronically stole signs during the 2017 season, which of course ended with a World Series win for the franchise.
The Astros were fined the maximum $5 million, general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended through this year’s World Series, and the organization was stripped of first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB Drafts. Astros owner Jim Crane subsequently fired Luhnow and Hinch.
The domino effect extended to Alex Cora, who was bench coach with Astros in 2017 and implicated as a key mastermind in their cheating. Cora spent the past two seasons as manager of the Boston Red Sox, but on Tuesday he and the team mutually agreed to part ways.
On Thursday, Carlos Beltran, the player perhaps most responsible for the Astros’ effort, informed the New York Mets he was stepping down as manager.
As MLB continues to deal with shockwaves, the Los Angeles City Council is preparing a vote to ask the league to strip the Astros and Red Sox of their respective World Series titles and present them to the L.A. Dodgers.
While their wish is unlikely to be granted, Councilman Gil Cedillo believes it would be appropriate, via Bill Shaikin of the L.A. Times:
“This is an equity and justice thing,” Cedillo said. “Who was the best team in 2017? Who was the best team in 2018? It was the Dodgers. They got beat by teams that were cheating. Do they need to be told that they shouldn’t have a title?”
The L.A. City Council isn’t the first to suggest a team have their title taken away, as David Freese proposed the idea when also commending MLB for penalties that were levied against the Astros.
Despite public perception of their organizations, the Astros and Red Sox each maintain their World Series wins were legitimate and are not marred by the cheating scandal that has rocked the sport.
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