How MLB Can Start to Regain Fan and Player Trust After Astros Scandal
In case you're just now joining us, Major League Baseball is mired in its worst credibility crisis since the Steroid Era.
Plenty of time has passed since the league investigated and punished the Houston Astros for a sign-stealing scheme that helped deliver the organization's first World Series championship in 2017. But rather than fade into the background, the scandal has taken on new life in the early days of spring training.
Because MLB itself is largely at fault for this, we're presenting a seven-step plan for how the league can quell outrage over the Astros scandal and reassure everyone that the sport is in good hands.
Let's take it away.
Formally Apologize for Not Acting Sooner
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The Astros scandal began in earnest when Oakland Athletics pitcher Mike Fiers, who was on Houston's championship team in 2017, blew the whistle to Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic.
However, now we know that it could have and indeed should have started sooner.
Boston Red Sox catcher Jonathan Lucroy, who played with Fiers on the A's in 2018, told reporters last Thursday that the Astros' sign-stealing had been an open secret within baseball for years.
"I knew about that two years ago, it was going on," Lucroy said, per Rob Bradford of WEEI. "I know it just recently came out. Everybody in baseball, especially in that division that played against them, we were all aware of the Astros doing those things."
Moreover, A's manager Bob Melvin and general manager David Forst confirmed to Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle that the organization filed a formal complaint against the Astros before Fiers went public.
All this amounts to a terrible look for MLB, as it indicates that the league might never have investigated the Astros if the media hadn't gotten involved. For this, MLB owes everyone a thorough explanation and a sincere apology.
Strip the Astros of Their World Series Title
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Though MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred hit the Astros hard with his initial wave of punishments, he stopped short of penalizing any players and of stripping the team of its World Series title.
In fairness to Manfred, punishing current and former Astros players never was practical. He did, however, acknowledge that he "thought about" vacating Houston's championship.
It's now clear just how many people still are thinking about it, including some of baseball's brightest stars. Los Angeles Angels superstar Mike Trout (here) is in favor of taking away Houston's title, as is New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge (here). And so on.
There should be no mistake that this is Manfred's nuclear option. But while his unwillingness to go through with it because of a lack of precedent has merit, Los Angeles Dodgers star Justin Turner offered a convincing counterargument: What the Astros did in 2017 is also without precedent.
Vacating Houston's 2017 championship would be strictly symbolic, yet it would nevertheless be the ultimate catharsis for the many players, coaches, executives and fans who understandably feel betrayed by the Astros' wrongdoing and MLB's initial response to it.
Likewise, it would send the clearest possible message that any further tomfoolery will not be tolerated.
Don't Promote the Astros
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This perhaps goes without saying, but the last thing MLB should be doing right now is promoting the Astros in any way, shape or form.
They would be Major League Baseball's resident bad guys even if they weren't saying anything. As it is, they've turned themselves into a downright Thanos-ian villain through tone-deaf apologies, eyeroll-worthy excuses and outright defiance.
"At some point, you have to move on and not give a s--t," said Houston right fielder Josh Reddick, per Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post. "We're going to go out there and win and shut everybody up."
There isn't anything MLB can do to put the Astros entirely out of sight and out of mind, but the league doesn't have to put them on a pedestal, either. For instance, MLB doesn't have to feature Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa in its hype material for the 2020 season, a la last year's "Let the Kids Play" advertisement.
If anything, MLB should try to include as many Washington Nationals in its promotional material as it can. Now is, after all, an ideal time to celebrate the team that beat the Astros fair and square in the 2019 World Series.
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Outline a Plan to Prevent More Sign-Stealing Scandals
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Major League Baseball can punish and hide the Astros all it wants, but the real trick will be convincing everyone that a similarly outrageous scandal won't happen again.
To this end, it's on Manfred to fulfill a promise he made at a press conference on February 16:
“I do expect that for 2020, we will have really serious restrictions on players’ and playing personnel’s access to video in-game. I think it’s really important for us to send a message to our fans that not only did we investigate and punish, but that we altered our policies in a way that will help make sure that it doesn’t happen again.”
There's only so much baseball can do to police sign-stealing in its traditional form. As in, a runner on second base decoding the catcher's signs and relaying information to the batter.
However, preventing what the Astros did and, to a lesser extent, the Boston Red Sox are accused of doing shouldn't be impossible.
The league could outlaw or aggressively regulate all video technology in clubhouses and dugouts. It could also mandate that video replay stations be moved far away from dugouts, with heightened security both of the stations themselves and over all communications to and from them.
In other words, this is a case where a little paranoia could change things for the better.
Put a Moratorium on Sweeping Rule Changes
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While it's safe to assume that everyone in and around baseball would be receptive to new rules for preventing sign-stealing, MLB should hold off on other sweeping changes.
Indeed, tinkering with the game has been one of the hallmarks of Manfred's five-year tenure as commissioner. He's been especially keen on speeding up the pace of play, hence why there are now rules outlawing traditional intentional walks and restricting mound visits and one-and-done relief appearances.
There's also been talk of a pitch clock and an automated strike zone coming to Major League Baseball. Apparently not content to stop there, Manfred also has big plans for the postseason.
But for the time being, he should chill out a little.
Rather than force all-new iterations of the game on everyone, Manfred's current goal should be to reaffirm faith in baseball as is. The 2020 season should be about going back to basics and, hopefully, proving that baseball isn't broken beyond repair.
Granted, Manfred won't hold off from his tinkering forever. But it would be good for the sport if he can take just one season off.
Get the Baseball Under Control
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Though Manfred should hold off on trying to change baseball in general, he does need to be proactive with regard to the baseball specifically.
Before the Astros scandal came along, the most active wellspring for baseball conspiracy theories was indeed the baseball itself. To wit, record-setting spikes in home runs during the 2017 and 2019 seasons gave rise to all sorts of speculation (see here and here) that the ball was juiced.
That is, of course, until the ball suddenly stopped flying in the 2019 postseason. Then a de-juiced ball conspiracy took hold.
MLB has not and likely never will admit to intentionally messing with the ball, but a league-sanctioned study did point to manufacturing inconsistencies as a contributing factor in the ball's irregular performance. That's fishy, yet not altogether unbelievable.
Whatever the case, it's on MLB to fix this. The league does own Rawlings, after all, so it should be able to put its foot down for the sake of tighter quality control. If that were to result in a more consistent ball, it would be bye-bye to conspiracy theories.
Expand Access to Games
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Last but not least, there's one message Major League Baseball must impart to its fans:
We love you and we want you to be happy.
MLB has failed miserably at sending this message of late. Though Manfred views speeding up the sport's pace of play as the best means for attracting younger fans and reversing the league's declining attendance, the biggest problem is more so one of access.
In recent years, MLB has priced too many fans out of seeing games in person. Games have also become harder to watch because of this nonsensical blackout restriction or that nonsensical blackout restriction. Heck, all of Canada will be blacked out of watching Toronto Blue Jays games on MLB.tv this season.
Somehow, some way, ticket prices must come down and blackout restrictions must go away. If nothing else, the league should at least consider lowering the cost of an MLB.tv subscription (currently $122 per year) and expanding the "Free Game of the Day" to "Free Games of the Day."
Ultimately, the idea should be that baseball is the only thing that can save Major League Baseball.
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