Whomever becomes the new Manager of the Houston Astros will have a relatively pressure free gig for 2020.
Unlike most new managers, he’ll inherit a very talented roster coming off a great season. At the same time, like most new managers, he’ll be coming in to right a ship – even if those problems involve off-the-field stuff.
Whoever gets the Astros manager gig for 2020 is sort of in a no-lose situation.
The Astros players on the other hand? They now have the weight of the world on their collective shoulders entering this season.
Of course, they put it there themselves.
The high-tech sign stealing operation that the Astros players had been running for the past few years was finally exposed by one of their former teammates. It cost Manager A.J. Hinch – who didn’t start nor endorse the scheme – his job, along with General Manager Jeff Luhnow.
The organization has been punished, too, with a heavy fine and the forfeiture of valuable draft picks. Two former Astros turned MLB managers, Carlos Beltran and Alex Cora, also lost their jobs for their part in the scheme. We don’t know if every player was cheating or how much. But for the moment, they’re all tarred with the same brush.
Guilt by association. Guilty until proven innocent.
However, no current Astros players were disciplined by MLB, which is sort of a head scratcher.
By every indication, most of, if not all the Astros players benefited in some fashion from the cheating. (How can you suspend an entire team?) The hitters got to know what pitch was coming before they had to decide whether to swing at it, while the pitchers benefited from the additional offensive support that resulted. Apparently, the old adage, “if you’re not cheating, you’re not trying” must have been tossed around a bunch inside the Astros clubhouse.
So, going into the 2020 season, most of these same players find themselves in a no-win situation of their own making. Guys who had terrific seasons in the recent past – like former MVP Jose Altuve, and All-stars Alex Bregman and George Springer – have been branded as cheaters. Any success they have moving forward will be looked at with a suspicious eye. And if they struggle or fail to put up the same kind of statistics as they did in previous seasons, all their earlier success will be tarnished – viewed as a product of cheating. The Astros hitters are now essentially in the same situation as players who were caught using steroids a generation ago.
And that may never change. Think about players who were caught up in the steroid scandal. How many of them ever really matched their pre-scandal production, or ditched that scarlet letter that became attached to their names?
For instance, Milwaukee’s Ryan Braun was the National League MVP in 2011 but was suspended in 2013 in connection with a failed drug test and subsequent cover up. In the six years leading up to his suspension, Braun made five All-Star teams and hit more than 30 homers every season. In the six seasons after, he’s made one All-Star team and hit 30 homers once. Many baseball fans view Braun’s early success and purely a product of cheating, based on his drop off in statistical production in the years that followed his getting caught.
And even while wearing that figurative scarlet “A,” (or “S” in this case) Braun’s been more successful than any of the others who ran afoul of the game’s performance enhancing substances policy. Most were either already out of baseball or were never the same players after they returned. Players like Rafeal Palmerio, Manny Ramirez (twice), Mike Cameron, Alex Rodriquez and many more were suspended for various lengths of time. None came back from suspension a better player than before they were busted.
So now, when these Astros report to spring training next month, they’ll face an endless parade of question about their role in the sign stealing scheme. They’ll be forced into constant defense mode. Imagine the road trips? They’ll have to carry that burden each time they walk up to home plate and hear the catcalls every time they make an out.
“What, you can’t hit unless you know what pitch is coming?”
It could end up being a very long season for the Astros players. Perhaps that’ll actually be more punishment than Hinch and the others got.
As for the next Houston manager, he won’t face a ton of pressure to win right away. He won’t need to win 107 games and get back to the World Series to be viewed a success. Instead, he’ll need to be equal parts game strategist and mental health counselor. He’ll have to keep things moving forward during a time when the players will need more of the latter than the former.
Listen to Mark Knudson on Monday’s at 12:30 with Brady Hull on AM 1310 KFKA and on Saturday mornings on “Klahr and Kompany” on AM 1600 ESPN Denver.
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