Rosenthal: For MLB to move on, Astros need to stop saying...

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Time for the Astros to stop claiming their 2017 World Series title was legitimate. For owner Jim Crane, shortstop Carlos Correa and every other Astros person to stop saying they won the Series, as Correa put it to me in our interview on MLB Network on Saturday, “fair and square.”

Commissioner Rob Manfred laid waste to that assertion in his latest news conference on Tuesday night, citing “statements from players” as the basis of baseball’s finding that the Astros used their trash-can banging scheme during the 2017 postseason.

We’ll never know precisely the advantage the Astros gained. Which is why their accomplishments are forever in doubt.

If the Astros want to move on, they need to abandon the notion that the ‘17 World Series title was, to quote Correa again, a championship they “earned.” For the sport to move on, the entire Houston organization needs to finally admit that the trophy — that famous, quite meaningful piece of metal — was...

c_c_c__combobreaker on February 19th, 2020 at 13:33 UTC »

Manfred's reasoning for not vacating the title is it's too difficult to determine how things would've played out and he doesn't want to disturb what happened in 2017.

But we do know that the Astros cheated and did it often. Whether or not they benefitted from the cheating is not even relevant. The only relevant information is that they did the deed. What more information does he need to vacate the title? Basically he's saying he's too much of a coward.

sidslidkid on February 19th, 2020 at 13:07 UTC »

A rival executive summed up Crane’s mentality thusly: “Deny, deny, deny. F—- it. We’re the champs.”

That quote would make a great t-shirt.

npno on February 19th, 2020 at 13:03 UTC »

We cheated.

Commissioners report confirms we cheated during the 2017 postseason.

It affected the outcome of the game.

We went to game 7 in both the ALCS and WS.

But tell me again how your 2017 title isn't tainted...