What to do about the Astros

Rob Manfred, baseball Commissioner who referred to the Commissioner’s Trophy as a “piece of metal,” has an escalating problem on his hands.  The longer he refrains from punishing the Astros, the more heat is generated from players and fans over the lack of justice.  He has to do something quickly to dissipate the ill will, or the result will be hit batters, melees, and possibly injuries.

The most logical thing to do would be to punish the players involved, either by fines or suspension but that’s not an option.  Why?  Because Manfred offered everyone blanket immunity for talking.  Can you imagine a DA whose strategy is to offer every suspect immunity, because that way you are sure to find out who is guilty?  Someone on ESPN said they didn’t want Manfred, an attorney, making any more decisions about the Astros because baseball doesn’t need another attorney; on the contrary, I think they just need a better one.

So, why not just take the trophy away from them?  This has a lot of appeal, but there are problems.  One, the fans and players can still bask in their memories, unless MLB has access to those amnesia flashers used in the Men In Black movies.  Second, Astros owner Jim Crane is rich, and he’s a jerk; he could just hire someone to make a duplicate, then keep it in his office until Manfred says he is stopping by for a visit.

A third option was posited by ESPN’ Buster Olney: CENSURE! The Commissioner’s office would draft something, probably on a parchment rolled up onto a scroll, that would formally say something like, “Thou beist cheaters, verily!”  Yeah, that’ll teach them not to cheat.

I have come to the conclusion there is only one answer: suspend the Astros from the post season for two, maybe three years.

First off, how could the union complain about this?  Yes, some of their members would be denied an earned trip to the post-season, but an equal number of members would be getting in in their stead.  Maybe there is something in the CBA about not altering who gets into the playoffs, but a clear majority of the union’s members would support this.

Two, this would impose exquisite torture on the Astros by the death of a thousand cuts.  Every time they would win a game, they would feel good for a second but then realize it doesn’t mean anything because no matter how many games they win, they can’t get to the playoffs.  In fact the more they win, the more they feel lousy.  Given that Astro Josh Reddick has said that they are "going to win and shut everybody up," this would be an apt come-uppance, because winning would only encourage more taunting.

Third, this would damage the franchise (not the players) for years. The closest parallel I can see is that of the sanctions handed down on the New Orleans Saints after “Bountygate," when the Saints were found to have financially encouraged players to injure opposing quarterbacks.  The team was fined $500,000, forfeited draft picks, their coach was suspended for a year and other key personnel were suspended.  The Saints finished 7-9 the next season, managed to win a wild card slot the next year, but then finished with 7-9 records for the next three seasons.  The Saints are now again one of the premiere teams in the NFL, but it has been a long road back to respectability.  If the Astros can’t make the playoffs for two years, that would make it difficult to attract quality players who only want to play for a chance to play in the World Series.

Lastly, I think this would stain their legacy more than nullifying the 2017 championship.  In the future, people could choose not to put an asterisk next to the 2017 World Series outcome and pretend they still won the trophy; but if they are suspended for two season yet win enough games to make the playoffs, there would have to be an asterisk explaining, “Yeah, the Astros won the division but didn’t go to the playoffs because they cheated in 2017.”  Nobody could ignore the fact that they won 100 games but had to sit at home in October.

Maybe the right time to announce this would be when MLB comes out with the report n the allegations of cheating by the Boston Red Sox.  Rob Manfred could take the opportunity to announce a new policy, that teams that have been found to have cheated will be suspended for the post season, and then declare the Astros and the Red Sox ineligible for the playoffs.

Manfred has to either do something to stem the anti-Astros hatred, or be prepared to hand down numerous suspensions to pitchers on other teams for throwing at the Astros or suspend Astro pitchers for retaliating.  Suspending the Astros for the post season would mete out some justice, mollify the angry mob, and avoid re-writing history.

It would also shut some of those mouthy cheaters up.