The Houston Patchstros and Us

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DOUGHBOYS
Posts: 13088
Joined: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:00 pm

The Houston Patchstros and Us

Post by DOUGHBOYS » Fri Jan 17, 2020 9:40 am

A lot of stuff has already been written about the Houston Patchstros. The Patchstros cheated. Management cheated, coaches cheated, players cheated.
So far, only four individuals have directly paid the price for cheating. One GM and three Managers. All the talking heads on the MLB Network agree with the penalties. And why not? Most of them agree with everything that goes on in baseball. There are few boat rockers on the Network.

The fans and public want more investigation and more penalties. It was clear that MLB wanted to stay clear from penalizing players. The upcoming agreement with the Union on a new contract probably having much to do about leaving players out of the equation. Since the report, circumstantial evidence has flooded the internet about the Astros wearing patches alerting them to which pitch was coming.
If these accusations are correct and more evidence is supplied that this did indeed happened, players heads will have to roll.

Now, what does that mean for us.
For me, it means every Astro takes a hit. Sure, only Bregman, Altuve, and Reddick have circumstantial evidence against them, but I'm guessing more is to come. For me, Altuve used it to the most effect. He swung at pitches and made full contact with pitches that left me shaking my head.
Now, I know why.
Altuve goes from a 'cute pixie' in baseball to a bona fide cheater. Bregman goes from hard-nosed player to hard core playa. But, shit rolls downhill. EVERY Patchstros player will be effected. The scrutiny and questions will be endless. The signs displayed (not the stolen ones, the ones written by fans) and things heard from the media and fans will be endless.
I believe that with a possible suspension for Bregman looming, he will, at the least, fall to the second round by March.
And who knows?
More news could even make that seem too rosy.
Altuve too, takes at least a one round hit.
As for the other Patchstros?
I demote each one a little on my list.
I'll believe that Yordan Alvarez was low on the Astros chain of cheating and did not wear a patch. His hitting was, indeed, authentic.
BUT, he is a babe. Never been in the Bigs for more than a year. Never faced the barrage of pessimism that will dog him and his Patchstro teammates the coming year. We don't know the effect it will have on him.
Gurriel hit a lot better than usual. Was there a patch in his good year tires?
Correa? That patch doesn't heal injury. Kind of ironic.
Michael Brantley? If I had to pick one Patchstros hitter that is effected the least by the controversy, Brantley would be the player.
Brantley plays like he is above the nonsense and has been around long enough not to take the abuse to the plate.
Springer? He is the heart of that offense. He's going into his contract year. He has the most to lose besides Bregman and Altuve. The pressure immense.
And poor Kyle Tucker.
Tucker hit so poorly that if wearing the patch, it didn't help.
I picture him not wearing the patch and having the Patchstros yelling at him, "C'mon Kid, If you ain't cheating, you ain't trying!"

I believe there is more of this story to come.
Bregman, who has taken the Gary Carter approach to baseball of loving every camera and microphone near him, has gone silent.
Justin Verlander, the self-appointed player mouthpiece who always has something negative to say about the state of baseball, has likewise shut up.
It just seems there is more to this story that they don't want found out.
And for us, being selfish fantasy players, we hope that everything hits the fan and is settled before our drafts in March.
If not, each of us will have our own way of dealing with the Patchstros.

And what an off season!
It seems like there is news to change our lists every day.
Donaldson to the Twins. The Twins?
The Patchstros. The Firings....Oh...sorry...the 'parting of ways'....what a wussified way to put it.
And we still have the Red Sox cheating and the Kris Bryant free agency reports coming.
Not to mention that Puig, Ozuna, and Castellanos have all yet to find homes.
I love this off season.

One more thing and yes, I know I've lost focus again.
A friend and I were discussing how much ball park effect has on our game.
We concluded it could be answered by asking everybody two questions.
Ready?

Where would you draft Nick Castellanos if signed by the San Francisco Giants?

Where would you draft Nick Castellanos if signed by the Colorado Rockies?

Amazing, right? Same player. Different park.
And we came up with 10th round and third round.
Seven rounds of separation!
And he didn't even have to cheat!
On my tombstone-
Wait! I never had the perfect draft!

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