VERLANDER POKES FUN ABOUT THE ASTROS CHEATING & FAILS

This is the dopey face of a player whose team got away with cheating and he knows it.  Rob Manfred set a bad tone for Major League baseball moving forward.  Disgusting.

The Houston Astros just keep digging themselves in a deeper hole. We already got a fake "apology" from former Astro Dallas Keuchel, and now we get an ill-advised attempt to make a joke about the Astros cheating scandal from Justin Verlander. Great....

Verlander was at the annual Baseball Writers Association of America banquet on Saturday to accept the 2019 Cy Young award. The even is pretty routine and winners will give an acceptance speech, but instead of saying thank you and not adding more controversy. I assume he tried to make a joke out of it by complimenting the Astros by saying "as everyone knows, they're very technologically and analytically advanced" which resulted in a mix of awkward laughter and boos from the audience. It also didn't amuse Cody Bellinger or CC Sabathia who were also in attendance.

I could be wrong, but it looks like Verlander is trying to lighten the mood and make a joke about all of this. Whether he is or isn't though....he is the LAST guy who should be sending this message that the Astros did not cheat. He is a walking, talking hypocrite. He is first guy to try and throw another player to the wolves and he has been very vocal about how much he dislikes cheating of ANY kind.

Remember Robinson Cano's PEDS scandal from 2018? Yeah, he was quick to blast him on twitter about that.

And what about back in 2017 when he was still with the Tigers? He was all fired up about sign stealing back then. He gave an interview about it HERE.

“We don't have somebody, but I'm sure teams have a person that can break down signals and codes and they'll have the signs before you even get out there on the mound.”

“It's not about gamesmanship anymore. It used to be, 'Hey, if you can get my signs, good for you.' In the past, if a guy on second (base) was able to decipher it on a few pitches, I guess that was kind of part of the game. I think it's a different level now. It's not good.”

And then magically a couple of months later he is traded to the Astros and then he changes his mind and becomes part of the scandal? This guy has no integrity and it pisses me off. It's bad enough that you cheat after you've spent YEARS complaining about it....but now it looks like you tried to make a joke out of it. Grow up.

The only joke here IS YOU, Verlander. We are laughing, but AT you not with you.

--Jeana Bellezza-Ochoa
BYB Managing Editor
Twitter: @nyprincessj