I don’t understand this policy. What’s the rationale?
Probably more like an irrationale.
Basically it’s that they would rather you buy the local cable package, which costs more.
There is essentially zero evidence this works. I can tell you right now the Blue Jays blackout does not, to any degree whatsoever, make me want cable back.
I forget. Are you a dodgers fan?
Ah okay. In that case I suspect that it’s their deal with the cable operators that require this. They must in balance get more money from their TV/cable contracts than they get from their own channel.
I posted upthread an article detailing ex-relief pitcher Mike Bolsinger’s lawsuit against the Astros. He claims their cheating ended his career.
Here’s a more in-depth piece describing how it wasn’t just Bolsinger but a number of other pitchers whose careers and earnings were scuppered by the Astro’s cheating. The damage extended beyond the players. Sadly, teams’ support staff also got cheated:
There is also some interesting ‘data’ regarding the trash can banging:
Just saw this ESPN headine (which I didn’t click on):
“A-Rod: Fans are upset by Astros’ lack of remorse”
A-Rod, arbiter of the moral universe.
The mind reels.
A-Rod is a jerk, but if you had read it, you would have seen:
It’s pretty clear that both players and fans aren’t too thrilled with the Astros players facing zero consequences.
I think the zero consequences thing is understandable given the reality of getting people to talk. It’s the “we didn’t do anything wrong” attitude from the players that is charging up my desire to see a little chin music.
Anyone notice how the report on the Red Sox sign stealing investigation has kind of been quietly forgotten?
Meanwhile, the Astros thing gets uglier by the day. It’s becoming increasingly apparent MLB only went halfway. And, as usual, going halfway and then having it explode in your face is way, way worse than getting it all out there to start with.
Give the Asterisks the NCAA “Death Penalty.” Take away all of their television, radio and the like. MLB can do it - “This game cannot be broadcast, etc. etc. without the express written consent of Major League Baseball.” So don’t give it. Force them into a media blackout the game has never seen. Do they have a radio channel? DENIED. Tell ESPN and every other station that have a Houston game scheduled this season that they’d better plan on the back-up game. Force management to pony up the World Series share money to every single affected person - all the pitchers that never got called up or were sent down, all the staff of opposing teams that were banged against. Every fucking one of them should get share money, and it should come from the organization, not the owner’s pocket. THEN let them try to sign anybody for a few decades. They won’t be able to afford to keep the stadium lights on.
I agree with this.
The problem is that American professional Sports leagues aren’t real competitions. It’s not 30 different clubs competing with each other. It’s 30 clubs in collusion. Congress should revoke their antitrust exemption and require that they open up the leagues to any competitor that can field a team and institute relegation. Houston should be relegated for this and replaced by a club that didn’t cheat.
The high school I teach at has a pretty good baseball team this year, and we’ve put people into the majors. Let them take Houston’s place! 
if they were going to clear the Red Sox they would announce that . I assume they are still looking into it.
Manfred is in a box. If the Red Sox are dirty, then he has to hand down the same punishment the Asterisks got. If he does that, he’s finished. The uproar will be too much. OTOH, if he hands down a greater punishment, the Sox will erupt. On the gripping hand, a lesser punishment will cause Houston to go nuts.
And if Manfred had punished the Astros appropriately, the owners would have had his head. So I think he was in a non-winnable situation.
Frankly I think the owners are being asses about this. No wonder baseball is struggling.
As much as I think MLB is screwing this up, I agree that blaming Manfred personally makes no sense. Manfred works for the owners, full stop; they tell him what to do. The idea of the commissioner as a semi-independent ruler has been nonsense since Fay Vincent. In any sense that matters, Vincent was the last commissioner of Major League Baseball. The job title may still exist but the role isn’t really that of a commissioner; the job has little real authority.