Dodgers: Astros punished but justice will never be served for Dodgers

Yesterday the Dodgers and the rest of Major League Baseball found out the punishment for the Houston Astros. Was it enough?

On Monday, the Dodgers found out the extent to which the Houston Astros were cheating during the 2017 season.  MLB’s findings also confirmed that the Astros did cheat during the postseason which ultimately means the Dodgers were in fact cheated out of a World Series title.

The punishment handed out to the Astros was a one-year suspension for General Manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch.  Both were fired by Astros’ owner Jim Crane which was an honorable move on his part although it doesn’t lessen the taint on the Astros’ World Series title.

The Astros will also lose first and second-round picks over the next two seasons and while that punishment is something, it is not enough.  There are many teams that would do the same thing the Astros did if they knew that was going to be the punishment.

Not only is this a black eye for Major League Baseball and the Astros that will never be forgotten, it just makes the sting even worse for the Dodgers and their fans.  The 2017 World Series affected legacies, reputations, and cost several Dodgers their only shot at a World Series title.

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One of those players is Andre Ethier who played out his entire big league career with the Dodgers.  Ethier was a fan favorite and one of the good guys in the game, and he was robbed of a ring before he went off into retirement.  Then there is the reputation part of this.

Clayton Kershaw who is known for coming up short in the postseason, 2017 was going to be the year that ended all of that.  After dominating the Astros in game one, he surrendered multiple leads in game five of the World Series.  Rather than this being a “typical Kershaw choke”, this was something else.

Game five of the 2017 World Series is the game that sticks out the most and it was supposed to be Kershaw’s moment of redemption.  Instead, he was cheated against and with just two seasons remaining on his contract, it’s fair to wonder if he will ever get a World Series ring.

Andrew Friedman, Stan Kasten, and Dave Roberts also have had their reputation take a hit over the past few seasons.  If the Dodgers had won the 2017 World Series, the perception of them would certainly be a lot different than it is today.  Astros’ owner Jim Crane said Monday was a tough day for the Astros, but it was an even tougher day for the Dodgers.

All the Dodgers who put their blood, sweat, and tears into that 2017 World Series run, were robbed of a World Series title.  The city of Los Angeles was robbed and the biggest loser in this are Dodger fans.  The Astros were punished but justice will never be served for the Dodgers or their fans.