In his first public interview since punishing the Houston Astros for the team’s role in the ongoing sign-stealing scandal, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred explained that his office will honor the “long tradition in baseball of not trying to change what happened.”
Manfred’s comments come just one day after the Los Angeles City Council, in an obviously bias vote, unanimously approved a resolution calling for Manfred to strip championships from both the 2017 Astros and 2018 Red Sox and award them to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Houston Astros – 2017 World Series Autographed Baseball
Manfred’s explanation, of course, lit up social media.
"mlb has no plans to strip astros, red sox of world series titles, says commissioner rob manfred"
— ͏k͏y͏l͏e (@kyleconqueso) January 22, 2020
rob manfred is a fucking coward. if you aren't punishing them for winning a championship by cheating, why would ANY TEAM not try to cheat their way to a world series win?
@MLB if this type of cheating is not worthy of rescinding a tainted and un-deserved Wrold Series then the game no longer has any integrity. The Astros and Red Sox must have their WS wins withdrawn. I will boycott the rest of the season and all MLB sponsors until it is done.
— Brofessor Rubz (@eddierubz13) January 22, 2020
But in my book, I will not recognize the Astros 2017 and Red Sox 2018 winning the World Series.
— Nick Gazerro (AUBURN MBB🏀 15-2) (@newengland_AU) January 22, 2020
https://t.co/cC3nWVqQrO
Throwing the Astros World Series title away pic.twitter.com/qCJ0vunN7A
— NICK (@nickgrodo) January 22, 2020
Manfred office’s confirmed earlier this month that Houston used technology to steal signs from opposing teams. They have already been punished with season-long suspensions for both GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, the loss of four draft picks, and a $5 million fine.
In coming this his decision to not strip away championship titles, Manfred further explained that multiple people have “lost their jobs over this” and that the imposed penalties “will serve as a deterrent for this behavior going forward.”
