With seemingly everyone in baseball wanting to chime in on the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal, it was only a matter of time before Alex Rodriguez got involved. The former Yankees star took time during a Yankees-Red Sox spring training game to comment on Houston’s cheating, and specifically called out the organization for not showing enough remorse after getting caught this off-season.
"I served the longest suspension in MLB history. It cost me well over $35M. And you know what? I deserved that."@AROD says the Astros deserve whatever comes their way after the lack of remorse they've shown. pic.twitter.com/AnezyIyhHa
— ESPN (@espn) March 3, 2020
Rodriguez singled himself out as an example of how to react to being caught cheating, referencing his 2014 suspension as a counter to how the Astros have behaved over the last few months. Specifically, he says that he took his punch on the chin and accepted the punishment:
You cheat, you win a championship, there is no suspension, and then there’s no remorse. […] From a guy who has made as many mistakes as anybody on the biggest stage — I served the longest suspension in Major League Baseball history, it cost me well over $35 million, and you know what? I deserved that. I came back. I owned it after acting like a buffoon for a long time. I had my apologies, and then I went dark. […] You have to be accountable … I felt the hatred from the people and I earned it.”
A-Rod was suspended for the entirety of the 2014 season for using performance-enhancing drugs and attempting to cover up that usage, as uncovered in the Biogenesis scandal. He returned in 2015 and played two more seasons before retiring.
To date, the only suspensions handed down to the Astros have been to former manager A.J. Hinch and former general manager Jeff Luhnow, who were both suspended for the entire 2020 season and subsequently fired. No players were banned from the sport, with MLB citing that they cooperated with the investigation in exchange for clemency.
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