L.A. Council Asks MLB to Award Dodgers Titles Amid Astros, Red Sox Scandals

The Los Angeles City Council is asking MLB to take dramatic steps as remediation for the Los Angeles Dodgers' 2017 and 2018 World Series defeats.

ESPN's Alden Gonzalez reported the council unanimously approved Tuesday a resolution asking the league to strip the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox of their titles and name the Dodgers as the champions.

The move came after Houston and Boston were implicated in the recent sign-stealing scandal.

The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich first reported the Astros had set up a replay room in which they attempted to decode the opposing catcher's signs and would communicate the incoming pitch to their hitters. The tactic was used in 2017, when the team won its first championship.

Following an investigation, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred suspended Astros manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for one year, with both getting dismissed altogether by the team.

Rosenthal and Drellich followed up to report the Red Sox used a similar strategy in 2018 during their title run. Manager Alex Cora was a bench coach for the Astros in 2017 and was involved in their sign-stealing scheme.

The Red Sox remain under investigation but have already parted ways with Cora.

Councilman Gil Cedillo explained why he and his colleagues were drafting a formal resolution to MLB regarding the matter.

"This is an equity and justice thing," he said, per the Los Angeles Times' Bill Shaikin. "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?"

After Manfred handed down the suspensions for Hinch and Luhnow, the Dodgers issued a statement saying MLB had asked teams not to comment on the punishments and requested they specifically refrain from commenting "on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series."