Braves' Markakis blasts Astros: 'Every single guy over there needs a beating'
Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis is making it known how he feels about the Houston Astro's sign-stealing scandal, and how the league has handled it.
“To see something like that, it’s damaging to baseball. It’s anger. I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating. It’s wrong. You’ve been messing with people’s careers. I know we’re all competitive, but there are right ways to do it and wrong ways to do it. There’s a lot of people that were hurt by it,” Markakis told FOX 5.
An investigation found that the Astros used the video feed from a centerfield camera to see and decode the opposing catcher’s signs. Players banged on a trash can to signal to batters what was coming, believing it would improve the batter’s odds of getting a hit.
Sign stealing is a legal and time-honored part of baseball as long as it is done with the naked eye — say, by a baserunner standing on second. Using technology is prohibited.
Houston was fined $5 million, the maximum allowed under the Major League Constitution, as punishment. The Astros will also forfeit their next two first- and second-round amateur draft picks.
The Astros’ sign-stealing scandal cost manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow their jobs
Markakis' comments come just days after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred met with several managers and told them to knock off any notion of get-even beanballs.
“I hope that I made it extremely clear to them that retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated, whether it’s Houston or anybody else,” Manfred said. “It’s dangerous and it is not helpful to the current situation.”
Markakis made it known he was not happy with the commissioner's handling of the scandal.
"The way [the commissioner] handled the situation, he should be embarrassed of himself," Markakis said.
The Braves' outfielder isn't the only player to be critical of the Astros. The Los Angeles Dodgers have expressed their annoyance, going so far as to say that they would rather earn a World Series trophy on their own than accept any scraps from the Houston Astros or Boston Red Sox
The Associated Press contributed to this report.