Yankees didn’t lose 2017 ALCS due to cheating says Astros’ owner

Speaking from their spring training facility in West Palm Beach, FLA, Astros’ owner Jim Crane told the media that cheating didn’t cost the Yankees a shot at playing in the 2017 World Series. And he said so with a straight face.

After listening to the ramblings of Astros’ owner Jim Crane on Thursday morning, two things are abundantly clear. First, the man is ignorant to the point that he believes his lies. And second, we (Yankees fans) should never expect anyone still associated with Houston to say or do the right thing.

In what came off as a hallow attempt to appease the baseball world, the Astros trotted out 2017 AL MVP Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, owner Jim Crane, and new manager Dusty Baker to speak about the sign-stealing scandal as quick and indirect as humanly possible.

Despite the findings and subsequent punishment handed down by Major League Baseball, Crane continues to put his foot in his mouth whenever the opportunity presents itself — especially after admitting, “we broke the rules.”

As noted by the NY Daily News, Crane further added fuel to the fire when he stated:

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"“Our opinion is this didn’t impact the game,” Crane said when specifically asked about how the Yankees should feel about losing to the Astros in the 2017 ALCS. “We had a good team. We won the World Series and we’ll leave it at that.”"

While many of us have been raised to understand that opinions can’t be wrong — this one, muttered by Crane and regarding the Yankees is 100 percent off-base.

There’s no doubt the 2017 Astros were a good club, but their hitters knew precisely what type of pitch they were going to receive.

That same season, the Tigers finished a major-league worst 64-98, yet, if Detroit had the same outfield camera relay system that resulted in trash can banging to decipher pitches, I bet they could have been a pennant contender too.

And that’s why Crane is so delusional. Yes, he fired his GM and manager after the pair were suspended for one year, putting the onus of the blame on the men in charge. So I guess that makes Crane an innocent bystander?

No, you’re the owner, it’s your job to keep everyone accountable! Ignorance should not be bliss in this circumstance. Calling Bregman, Altuve, and their teammates, “a great group of guys who did not receive proper guidance,” is still on you, Crane!

A $5 million fine and the loss of draft picks while keeping the 2017 World Series is a small price to pay, especially when it’s clear that a millionaire owner shows little remorse.

Sure, Bregman and Altuve squeamishly apologized, but their words weren’t sincere because no punishment has come to them personally.

"“I am really sorry about the choices that were made by our team, by the organization and by me,” Bregman said.Speaking on behalf of the team, the MVP runner up told reporters we “learned from this” and that he hopes to “regain the trust of baseball fans.”"

I bet if Mike Clevinger of the Indians or any other enraged pitcher were to throw high and hard during one of their at-bats, you’d actually witness some real emotion.

And perhaps that’s what Commissioner Rob Manfred wants — for the game to police itself, as it so often has. At this point, it would be better than listening to the verbal diarrhea that has been spouted from Crane, Bregman, Altuve, Justin Verlander, and every other coward that preferred to win an illegal World Series.