The Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox are not the only teams feeling the lingering sting of the MLB cheating scandal.
The Los Angeles Dodgers, the team that finished runner-ups in 2017 and 2018 to the Astros and Red Sox respectively, are certainly asking themselves a number of "what if" questions when it comes to those championship seasons today.
On Monday, Major League Baseball announced sweeping penalties on the 2017 World Series Champion Houston Astros. Among the penalties, a $5 million fine, the loss of 2020 and 2021 first and second round draft picks, and year-long suspensions for general manager Jeff Ludlow and manager A.J. Hinch, both of whom were subsequently fired.
On Tuesday, the Boston Red Sox followed suit in the wake of the punishment against the Astros. The team fired manager Alex Cora, who won the 2018 World Series over the Dodgers, and was the bench coach for the Astros in 2017.
One thing Major League Baseball did not do, was strip the Astros or Red Sox of their World Series championships, despite the fact that those titles are tainted in the fact that the teams cheated to win them.
Now, Los Angeles City Council is expected to vote on a resolution this week. In them, they will urge MLB to take those titles away from the Astros and Red Sox. The council is taking the initiative a step further, as they are expected to ask MLB to present the Dodgers with the World Series trophies instead.
Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times was the first to report the resolution that is being sponsored by councilman Gil Cedillo, who represents the district that includes Dodger Stadium.
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Cedillo told the L.A. Times, that neither the Dodgers, or his constituents asked for the World Series trophies to be given to the Dodgers, but nonetheless he feels like it's the right thing for MLB to do.
"This is an equity and justice thing," Cedillo told the Times. "Who was the best team in 2017? Who was the best team in 2018? It was the Dodgers. They got beat by teams that were cheating. Do they need to be told they shouldn't have a title?"
Cedillo believes the resolution will be approved, but obviously does not know whether MLB will actually consider the resolution once it does. Cedillo shares the same sentiment as many fans, but if you ask the players, they don't necessarily feel the same way.
"It sucks man," said reigning MVP Cody Bellinger to ESPN during a celebrity softball game in Malibu on Sunday. "We were close, but we did it the right way. I think it's gotta [the cheating] come to an end unless it's going to be a disaster. I think we have to do something about it."
Bellinger and his fellow teammates don't necessarily want to see them get the trophy or have a mock parade down Vin Scully Ave. A faux celebration after the stinging memories of losing back-to-back World Series on your home field would seem rather ludicrous in the grand scheme of things.
For one, it's not like MLB would be able to track down the World Series rings from every player and staff member that already received them in 2017 and 2018. Sure, MLB could strip the titles away and add an asterisk to the history books, but fans will always remember what actually happened.
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred declined to comment on the L.A. City Council resolution according to the L.A. Times, but thus far, they've made it clear that the championships are staying with the respective teams that won them.
Despite the fact that the Dodgers will now have the mental task of revisiting those losses and realizing that their opponents broke rules and cheated the system to obtain them, they will still have no choice but to accept the outcome and move forward. For players like Clayton Kershaw and Yu Darvish, whose lives inevitably changed because of the cheating scandal, the announcement by MLB must only make them feel even more awful than they already did. Nonetheless, handing them the equivalent of participation trophies now, likely won't make them feel much better.
The two Commissioner's trophies that currently sit in the offices of the Houston Astros and Boston Red Sox will forever be tainted, not just in the eyes of MLB and the players, but in the eyes of fans across the world. It doesn't matter if they are moved to the offices of the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chavez Ravine. The world knows the truth, and we will never forget.
