There Will Be Blood: The 2020 MLB Season is going to go off the rails

Dear Commissioner Rob Manfred and MLB,

The 2020 season is going to be a mess. There will be blood.

This could have been avoided. Players would not have felt the need to take matters into their own hands if matters had been handled by the proper authorities. The Houston Astros perpetrated the most intense and complex cheating scheme in the history of American professional sports and were given barely a slap on the wrist.

It was probably the most successful cheating scandal ever as well. It helped lead to all kinds of hardware including an MVP for Jose Altuve and a World Series championship in 2017.

They’ve given none of it back. No player will spend a single day under suspension. Nor will they be fined a single dollar.

Trying to wade through all of that would indeed be messy but leaving the punishment at one-year suspensions for the GM and manager who led the charge, $5 million, and a couple of draft picks just doesn’t cut it.

Sacred are the few fans who would reject that tradeoff for a “piece of metal” if that piece of metal happened to be a World Series title.

Never in the modern history of the sport, or maybe any sport, has a truth been revealed that so fundamentally shakes the integrity of the game. Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs is correct in his assessment that this is worse than steroids.

This is why a group of players who would a thousand times over prefer to keep their heads down and their mouths shut are coming out of the woodwork to call the Astros cheaters in no uncertain terms.

For example:

Mike Trout: “They cheated. I don’t agree with the punishments, the players not getting anything. It was a player-driven thing. It sucks, too, because guys’ careers have been affected. A lot of people lost jobs. It was tough. Me going up to the plate knowing what was coming? It would be fun up there. A lot of guys lost respect for some of the guys. It seems like every day something new is coming out.”

Nick Markakis: “I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating. It’s wrong. They’re messing with people’s careers.”

Cody Bellinger: “I thought Manfred’s punishment was weak, giving them immunity. I mean these guys were cheating for three years. I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from Judge in ’17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us.”

Nationals GM Mike Rizzo: “I think it was telling that when we won a national league championship and we knew we were playing the Houston Astros, we got a lot of volunteer phone calls on how to beat them and how to play them and that type of thing.”

Kris Bryant: “I thought the whole punishment was weak. They got fined what? 5 million bucks? You make that selling the price of beers. I personally think it’s worse than steroids. Steroids you still have to compete and hit the ball… you can totally formulate an unbelievable game plan if you know what’s coming. They’re gonna have a tough year this year for sure. Everywhere they go. Rightfully so. It’s a disgrace to the game.”

Hank Aaron: “I think whoever did that should be out of baseball the rest of their life.”

Even Lebron James, owners in other leagues, and leading Presidential candidates are weighing in on the mishandling of this disaster.

If there was any way to escape or excuse this scandal by downplaying and ignoring, the players quoted above would be more than happy to oblige. None of them wants to admit a black mark on the game or break the loyalty of fraternity.

If there was any real legitimacy to the claim that some want to throw infinite doubt on the league by suggesting “everyone was doing it” then these players wouldn’t be so vehemently speaking out.

They know their own houses. They know where the line is. And they know what an extraordinary advantage it is to know what pitch is coming. And they are very, very, pissed off.

Ranking awful things is always a bit unseemly but it is almost impossible to avoid comparisons to the most famous scandal in the history of our sport: The 1919 Chicago Black Sox.

For many who value competitive spirit above all else, there is no greater crime than losing on purpose. There is no lower low.

But the Black Sox cheated themselves. They cheated the people who bet on them. At worst you can argue that they cheated every team and fan from that one particular season. And that’s the end of the list.

The Houston Astros cheated every other team, player, manager, GM, and fan of the 29 other clubs in baseball. People’s jobs and contracts were impacted. Others were simply not awarded the recognition that they fairly earned, instead having to watch those who skirted the rules smile and accept that honor. And this went on for years.

The Astros cheated their own fans, too. Some will take the trophy and the parade and dig in and not care about any of this. But some have lost faith in something they cared deeply about and will never be able to root for their hometown team again.

It is the Astros fans with the most integrity who may ultimately be hurt by this the most, knowing that some of their best memories in life are now tainted. Some may hand-waive it equivocate or say “what about” until the end of time. Others simply don’t know what to say to their kids.

It may be a bit ridiculous to sue the team, but that this is actually happening just shows how far-reaching the damage is. How else can those responsible make up for how their own fans are feeling? Mock those who refuse to be OK with cheating?

This also showcases the sweeping effects of the minimal punishments handed out by MLB.

With the overwhelming consensus being that Houston got off light, the league has opened themselves up to constant speculation like various fanbases and media outlets sifting through offseason vacation photos like they’re looking at the Zapruder film.

Neither MLB nor the Astros have the benefit of the doubt, so we will hear more about buzzers and tattoos and trash cans and asterisks.

And there will be blood.

Guys will be thrown at. Brawls will ensue. You will see some of the hardest slides into second base and plays at the plate since the implementation of rules meant to make those events less physical.

Manfred and the league can try their absolute best to institute harsher penalties on those who take exception to cheating than those who actually cheat, but it won’t stop it.

Throwing a baseball at a person is garbage justice when it comes to being offended that the other team or player is enjoying themselves. But what did they think was going to happen in a sport where this is common practice for pimping home runs and these offenses are much worse?

If there is one thing that most people can’t stomach above any specific ideological difference, it’s hypocrisy. And that is why ballplayers are going to take matters into their own hands.

We are talking about a league that suspended a player who tossed his batting gloves and they accidentally made contact with an umpire. These guys will get fined or suspended if they put a dash of color or a special design on their uniform, even if it is honoring lost loved ones or national heroes.

Dare to point out measurable facts about poor umpire performance? Automatic-fine.

Spend (at least) three years undermining the game? Zero.

Players won’t stand for that. So it is going to get ugly out there.

Unless MLB does something drastic before the season begins, there will be blood.