A dark cloud hovers over the Houston Astros, and it’ll likely stay for a while.
Houston Astros can’t seem to stay out of trouble. First, the trashcan debacle, being targeted by other players, and then the semi “punishment” that was handed that by the commissioner. Ultimately that situation turned out to just a slap on the wrist prior to the MLB season.
These instances would not be the last for the Astros as the 2020 baseball season started. Fights, mocking pitchers, and a hitting coach getting suspended is just a few things in the more recent history of the Astros. Judging by these events I wouldn’t expect anything to change anytime soon. Troubles won’t stop for this team and I’ll explain three reasons why.
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Lack of Leadership
The leadership with the Astros seems unhinged. Championship caliber teams generally show great examples of good leadership.
Lately, that has not been the case for this ballclub. The Astros are really not going under the radar when you are involved in bench-clearing incidents and instigating position coaches. Heated confrontations with ballplayers and taking the attack first mentality is not going to ease the burden anytime soon.
Astros hitting coach Alex Cintrón was suspended for 20 games for what was his role in “inciting and escalating the conflict.” The suspension is supposed to be the longest for a coach since Kenny Rogers in 2005. Of course, there’s a reason behind this and Laureano claims that Cintron said something about his mother in Spanish. Laureano regretted charging because in his words, “he’s a loser.”
MLB players are taking it upon themselves to punish the Houston Astros.
MLB fined the Houston Astros $5 million while stripping them of their draft picks, eliminating employment for coaches and executive positions. None of the players were punished and were given immunity. In turn, the retaliation coming down on this team can be pointed to the lack of consequences given to the players that participated in the signal stealing.
A lot of teams believe that MLB missed its chance to properly punish the Astros and now the players are dealing with them. So here comes the 2020 MLB season and nothing has been lost with the time off. In Late July, Joe Kelly of the Dodgers threw pitches over Alex Bregman’s head and at Carlos Correa. Consequently, the benches cleared as he taunted the team.
Where Do We Go From Here?
The baseball world becomes the wild wild west real quick when punishment is not distributed properly retaliation from the teams in this league is a foregone conclusion that the Astros are in a position that teams rarely if ever are in.
Nolan Ryan parted ways with them, players that lost positions through demotions feel robbed and even teams along the way feel slighted just as well. Depending on what side you fall on, the Astros got off pretty easy with players that for the most part got a slap on the wrist with no asterisk whatsoever.
Trouble around this team will not go away anytime soon. Players’ careers are ruined and will be hard for them to find a position within any other organization.