Justin Turner Responds To MLB Commissioner Calling World Series Trophy 'A Piece Of Metal'
LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — Dodgers and Angels players are reporting for spring training, but they're not staying quiet about the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
Outrage continues to get louder after Major League Baseball found that the Astros had engaged in a scheme to steal signs using camera technology in 2017 and 2018. The Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were both suspended for a year by the MLB, while Mets manager Carlos Beltran resigned for his role in the scheme when he played for the Astros.
"The commissioner didn't do a good job of revealing all the facts to us. I still think there's some stuff that maybe we don't know," Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner said.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred says he could not punish the players involved because they were granted immunity while they were questioned during the investigation. His comment that there were no plans to strip the Astros of their 2017 title because "asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act" drew widespread scorn.
"You know, calling the World Series trophy a piece of metal – uh, I mean, I don't know if the commissioner's ever won anything in his life. Maybe he hasn't. But the reason every guy's in this room, the reason why every guy is working out all off-season and showing up to camp early and putting in all the time and effort is for that trophy," Turner said. "Which, by the way, is called the commissioner's trophy. At this point, the only thing that's devaluing that trophy is that it says 'commissioner' on it. It's pretty evident to me that it wasn't earned."
Angels superstar Mike Trout also criticized the free pass for the players implicated in the cheating scandal.
"If you know what's coming, it's definitely going to help you," Trout said. "I think...it's tough, taking the trophy away, taking the rings away. I think they should definitely do something."
Last week, Dodgers first baseman Cody Bellinger also unleashed his ire on the Astros, saying they "stole the ring from us."
