In deference to pandemic, MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred washes his hands of Redsock cheating scandal

I keep re-reading the "punishment" handed down yesterday by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred, and keep reaching the same conclusion: 

What a joke.

What a fucking, fucking, fucking joke.

For this, we waited three months? They crack down on some middle-management schlunk, a sacrificial lackey for the entire organization. They suspend a manager who is already gone, and if the 2020 season is canceled, he won't miss one game, not one. And they take away a second-round draft pick. (Keep in mind that, in baseball, second-round picks are often lesser prospects, selected so the team can keep within mandatory signing caps.) They did nothing, nothing... 

Boston cheats and wins a championship, and this is supposed to teach a lesson? 

Well, it does teach a lesson: 

Go for it!

Do you realize that the young Yankee pitcher, Domingo German, will miss half the 2021 season due his punishment on a domestic violence dispute that a) never resulted in a police report, and that b) he confessed to and then sought counselling. Not to minimize German's actions, but he'll be still serving his suspension in mid-2021, while the instigators of the worst cheating scandal in modern sports history - Houston's and Boston's GM and managers - will be back in good standing. 

I know, I know... we're a Yankee fan site, by nature, hating of all things Bostonian. Thus, our opinions will never matter to the great and majestic Lords of the Game. But this deal amazes me. They whack a cameraman, a flunky, as if he did this on his own - while players, management and the franchise won't even feel a mosquito bite. 

It's like the giant corporation that pours millions of barrels of poison into the ocean... to get fined $100. 

Yep, the lesson here is clear. When baseball finally resumes, the Yankees should set up a secret centerfield camera, run the images through code-breaker software and cheat like hell. Every pitch. Let the batters wear buzzers. Why not? If you're not cheating, you're not trying. 

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