It’s a strange time for sports fans when the New York Yankees might not be the most hated team in the MLB. A new contender for the crown of least favorite team, the Houston Astros, has risen, because nobody likes a bully that doesn’t get punished enough. 

Following an investigation by the MLB, it was discovered that the Astros cheated during the 2017 and 2018 seasons when they won the World Series once and won over 200 games in total. However, the Astros got off far too easy. 

The Astros would cheat by having someone sit in center field with a camera focused on the opposing catcher to steal their signs and relay it to other team officials who would signal to the batters what type of pitch would be thrown. The MLB’s punishment for this was to suspend the manager and general manager for a year, take away their top two draft picks for the next two years and fine the team $5 million. 

To me, this just seems like the equivalent of a slap on the wrist. It looks like the MLB just punished them because they knew they would have to and didn’t really care about what happened. This should have been a much more serious problem. Not only did the Astros cheat, but they were recognized as the best team in all of baseball after winning the World Series. 

While the Astros did ultimately fire their manager and general manager, the MLB should have been the ones to decide this. I want to know why the Astros should be allowed to make themselves look better by firing their own officials. I also don’t see why none of the players are facing suspensions and fines. The players clearly accepted the stolen signs and benefited from it. The Astros should be fined the $30.4 million that the team got to split after cheating their way to the top.  

What happens on the field is fair game. If a player on base picks up some signs and signals to his teammate, that’s fair. But when technology and essentially spying comes into the picture, it goes beyond playing and turns into scheming.

For a sport that is as old and historic as baseball, the MLB should be trying harder to uphold the values that have made this sport so great. 

There isn’t a way to run out the clock or be saved by the bell in baseball. Every team gets 27 outs. Twenty-seven wasted chances and an unlimited amount of possibilities to see who truly is the greatest. The Astros have changed the game from being about who has the best players and skills to who has the best technology and way of evading authority. 

The Astros should be punished more for not just tampering with the 2017 season but with the game of baseball as a whole. It’s time for the MLB to start upholding its principles.