Did the MLB drop the ball with the cheating scandals this offseason?

Credit: AP/LM Otero

The MLB just handed out its punishment to the Boston Red Sox, however, did Manfred get it right?

Just weeks after the end of the 2019 season it was reported that the Astros were stealing signs during the 2017 season, further down the line it was also reported the Red Sox in 2018 were in a similar scandal. Here we are months later, and fans across the league are still rightfully upset.

For Dodgers fans, no punishment is good enough on either team that got caught cheating. The fact of the matter is the Dodgers were cheated out of a title on back to back years, no punishment the MLB could hand out would justify the pain and misery the fans and players went through after losing back to back World Series.

Here at Dodgers-Lowdown, we asked how the fans felt about how the MLB and Manfred handled the cheating scandals, as predicted not too many were pleased with the handling.

Ninety-two percent of voters said the MLB and Manfred failed and condoned cheaters, and the response around baseball seems to be the same. Numerous amounts of players, coaches, and fans all agree that the Astros should have been punished harder, some even stating they should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title. While the 2018 Red Sox were also caught up in a cheating scandal, it was nowhere near the extent to what the Astros were accused of during the 2017 season.

All signs point to Major League Baseball wanting to push the situation around the Astros and Red Sox under the rug to be forgotten. However, with the recent COVID-19 pandemic raging across the world, all eyes in the baseball industry are examining every aspect of the cheating scandal. The MLB and Rob Manfred have dodged questions and comments about the scandal and have failed the fans. While in the eyes of many baseball fans the Astros 2017 title and to an extent the Red Sox title in 2018 is forever tainted, Rob Manfred and league officials should have at most suspended players that were involved or better yet strip the title.

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