Dusty Baker has nothing to say about 2017 to Dodgers, points finger back at them

Astros manager Dusty Baker offered a preview of what he would say to the Los Angeles Dodgers about the 2017 sign-stealing scandal.

Under one of the proposals being considered by Major League Baseball and the player’s union to return-to-play this season, the Los Angeles Dodgers and Houston Astros could find themselves in the same division, or at least on each other’s schedule.

If the two teams end up on the same field in 2020, it will be entertaining, to say the least. Astros manager Dusty Baker – who was hired to replace A.J. Hinch in the offseason – was asked what he would say to the Dodgers about the 2017 sign-stealing scandal, and he gave a curt response.

“Well, I don’t think you say nothing to them,” Baker said on the Starkville podcast with Jayson Stark and Doug Glanville. “They’ve done quite a bit of talking themselves. And nobody is beyond some kind of guilt. Everybody got something that they don’t want somebody to know about. Nobody lives in glass houses.”

The Los Angeles Dodgers believe the Houston Astros stole their championship in 2017.

As Dodgers and baseball fans know too well, by now, the Houston Astros were caught using trash cans and other methods to illegally steal signs on their way to a world championship in 2017. The Astros beat the Dodgers in seven games in the 2017 World Series.

Both general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were suspended for the 2020 season as a result of the MLB investigation that proved the Astros cheated. The team was also fined and forfeited first and second round draft picks for the 2020 and 2021 drafts.

With the penalty handed out, Baker seems ready to move on.

“What are you going to do, you’re not going to try to beat [the Dodgers],” Baker said.

The Astros hired Baker to help quell the storm surrounding the team in the offseason when their illegal activity was exposed to the world by The Athletic. Houston needed an outsider who wasn’t part of the team under investigation. Veteran manager Dusty Baker seemed like a great choice.

Baker has managed 22 seasons in the majors for five different teams, including the Astros. Before manning the dugout, he played 19 seasons as a player.

Dodger players have not been shy in sharing their thoughts about the Astros, as Baker correctly notes. Cody Bellinger, who won Rookie of the Year during the 2017 season, had harsh words in response to the Astros.

“I thought the apologies were whatever,” Bellinger said (via the Los Angeles Times). “I thought Jim Crane’s was weak. I thought Manfred’s punishment was weak, giving them immunity. I mean these guys were cheating for three years. I think what people don’t realize is Altuve stole an MVP from [Aaron] Judge in ’17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us.”

Baker said on the Starkville podcast, “How many times can you say you’re sorry?”

After possibly losing a World Series title to the Astros, the Dodgers and their fans will tell Baker and the Astros to keep apologizing.