Major League Baseball’s commissioner Rob Manfred announced Wednesday that neither the Houston Astros nor the Boston Red Sox will be stripped of their World Series titles despite the wishes of many people across social media and the city of Los Angeles.
This was Manfred’s first public comment since Major League Baseball handed down punishments against the Astros for their sign-stealing scandal. This included the one-year suspension on manager A.J. Hinch. It also led to both Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran losing their managerial jobs with the Red Sox and the Mets, respectively.
The Commissioner also announced that the league will experiment with a robot umpire system during spring training. If all goes well, we may see it carry into the regular season.
The commissioner has always been looking at ways to improve the game to keep up with the times. In the past, he has addressed both the speed of play and the current replay system, which has been tweaked since its original inception.
But the timing of the new umpire system is sure to bring skepticism. It was the use of technology that was a major component in the Astros sign-stealing issue. Now, the league wants to use technology for their own benefit.
