3 teams Yankees can blame for Astros’ sustained dominance

Why be mad at the Houston Astros for cheating when you can redirect your attention to other boneheaded MLB teams that made them even better, New York Yankees fans? The cheating has an expiration date (we think), after all.

As the Bombers gear up for a four-game weekend series against their hated AL rival, it’s a waste of time to focus energy on the past … but maybe it’s not a bad idea to use these bits of information as fuel for New York to crush other opposition that’s helped the Astros maintain their success for so long.

The most hated members of the Astros’ core (Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Yuli Guerriel) were drafted or plucked via international free agency, but much of the rest of the roster was acquired through other means and with the help of boneheaded decisions.

Admittedly, the Yankees have benefitted from pilfering other franchises across baseball, but the Astros doing it just makes it all the worse … especially when they managed to out-smart arguably the best in the game.

We’re undoubtedly vibing for a Yankees series win as we’re set to kick things off, but if things go south, don’t forget to take your anger out on these three other teams who put the Astros in a position to sustain success.

The Yankees should be furious at these teams for helping the Astros sustain success

3. Cleveland Guardians (well, in this instance, the “Indians”)

After the 2018 season, the Cleveland “Indians” were coming off three straight playoff appearances, one of which resulted in a World Series berth. Outfielder Michael Brantley was among the driving forces in their offense alongside Francisco Lindor and Jose Ramirez.

That offseason, Brantley was a free agent, and it was simply assumed he’d be leaving. Why? We’re not sure. Over the last decade or so, the Guardians have failed to put together a competent outfield, which is the deepest position in the sport. Don’t ask us why! It’s just been the case.

So you’d think they would’ve made it a priority to keep Brantley, an outfielder, especially since the then-32-year-old wasn’t exactly in line for a long-term contract. Nope! Instead, they let him waltz to Houston on a weak two-year, $32 million contract, which actually perfectly aligned with Cleveland eventually blowing up their roster after the 2020 season.

Brantley has remained a force over the last four seasons. In Houston, he’s hit .308 with an .836 OPS and 126 OPS+. He’s been an aggressive contact lefty bat that’s helped the Astros’ offense hum along. If he’s not there, a lot of other guys don’t see pitches.

Why the Guardians couldn’t have forked over a measly $32 million to keep their window of contention slightly propped open, we’ll never know (unless he didn’t want to stay, but there’s no knowledge of that explicitly).

1. Los Angeles Dodgers

Chalk this up as the first bad trade Andrew Friedman made running the Los Angeles Dodgers … and of course it had to be with Houston.

Back in 2016, LA traded 19-year-old Yordan Alvarez for relief pitcher Josh Fields. At the time, the Dodgers needed bullpen help to keep a stranglehold on their contender status, and Fields was actually able to provide the necessary help through the 2018 season (2.61 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, 115 strikeouts in 124 games). But after that year, he was out of baseball.

Meanwhile, Alvarez has developed into one of the best hitters in all of MLB. He won AL Rookie of the Year back in 2019 and is firmly in the AL MVP conversation this year (he leads the league in OPS and OPS+). Across 294 games with Houston, the 24-year-old is hitting .295 with a .972 OPS and 161 OPS+. He just signed a long-term extension to remain with the Astros, too.

Even worse? Alvarez loves to crush the Yankees. In 10 career games vs the Bombers, he’s hitting .310 with a 1.031 OPS, seven runs scored, five homers and nine RBI. The only silver lining here is that he won 2021 ALCS MVP after the Astros stomped the Red Sox.

Otherwise? The Yankees are stuck having to deal with Alvarez for the next six years. And all it cost was a solid relief pitcher that didn’t help the Dodgers win a World Series (in fact, Fields got TATTOOED against the Astros in the 2017 Fall Classic, which resulted in LA’s downfall).

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