“I would rather face someone taking steroids” - When Alex Wood condemned Jose Altuve & the Astros over electronic wearable accusations
The Houston Astros' were involved in a sign-stealing scandal that not only rocked the MLB world but tarnished their reputation among fans and teams across the league. As such, the Astros' 2017 World Series win is seen by many to have been undeserved and resulted in the enmity of the teams they beat along the way.
This animosity and distrust were on display in January 2020, when accusations surfaced on Twitter accusing the Astros, namely Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve, of further cheating.
The theory was that they were wearing electronic devices on their right shoulders which would go off to indicate an off-speed pitch. This was suggested to be the reason why Altuve didn't want his teammates to pull at his jersey after hitting the game-winning home run against the New York Yankees in the ACLS in 2019.
While the post was deleted and subsequent investigation into the matter yielded no results, suspicions were high. Alex Wood, who was on the Los Angeles Dodgers team that lost in the 2017 World Series, took to Twitter to share his thoughts on the matter:
"I would rather face a player that was taking steroids than face a player that knew every pitch that was coming."
MLB punishment for Astros' sign-stealing did little to alleviate animosity around the league
The news of the sign-stealing scandal broke in 2019 and it was investigated by the MLB. The franchise was fined $5 million and lost its first- and second-round draft picks in both 2020 and 2021. GM Jeff Luhnow and field manager A. J. Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season and immediately fired by the team.
The punishment did little to erase the World Series win and there is animosity held towards the franchise and many of its players to this day. The general consensus was that the MLB was too lenient, with players, fans and analysts alike sharing their thoughts on the matter.
Many wanted the players involved severely punished, but the MLB had given them immunity during the investigation to ensure player cooperation. Further investigation revealed that four Astros players reportedly didn't want to know what pitch they were about to face, and they were Jose Altuve, Brian McCann, Tony Kemp, and Josh Reddick.