The other day MLB commissioner Rob Manfred released the punishments that the Houston Astros are receiving due to their cheating scandal during the 2017 season. However, there were no player punishments given. This was because the players had immunity if they agreed to fully cooperate with Major League Baseball’s investigation.
The decision to not punish players was a bad choice by the MLB. The entire roster was apparently aware of what was going on and knew that it was against the rules. It’s simple: you break the rules, you deserve a punishment.
I don’t believe that every player deserved a ban like AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow were given, but something like a small fine would have been appropriate. This would have shown the rest of the league that nobody should be trying to gain an unfair advantage and it would have sent a message to the rest of the league. Major League Baseball missed an opportunity to really say that this is wrong and if it happens again, you will be severely punished.
The consequences that the Astros franchise received were appropriate. The talks of vacating the title from the 2017 year and removing Jose Altuve’s MVP award are something that I personally don’t think should happen. I believe that MLB did a fine job choosing what the Astros received and didn’t go overboard. It may not seem like a lot, but two years of lost picks and the maximum fine allowed sends a message to other clubs that this behavior is unacceptable.