NORTH PORT, Fla. — Major League Baseball players have not been shy about voicing their opinions in wake of the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.
You can now add Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis to that list.
Speaking to reporters at the Braves spring training clubhouse, Markakis made his feelings known about the Astros players involved in the cheating scandal.
“To see something like that, it’s damaging to baseball. It’s anger. I feel like every single guy over there needs a beating. It’s wrong. You’ve been messing with people’s careers. I know we’re all competitive, but there are right ways to do it and wrong ways to do it. There’s a lot of people that were hurt by it,” Markakis said.
Channel 2 Sports Director Zach Klein is following the Braves at spring training. He’ll bring you live reports from Florida on Channel 2 Action News.
The Braves outfielder’s remarks come two days after MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said retaliation against the Astros during a game would not be tolerated.
“I hope that I made it extremely clear to them that retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated, whether it’s Houston or anybody else,” Manfred said. “It’s dangerous and it is not helpful to the current situation.”
Markakis believes the punishment for Astros players wasn’t enough while Alex Cora and Carlos Beltran no longer have jobs in baseball.
“I think the punishment and everything has been handled the wrong way. You got two guys that are sitting at home that you can kind of give them a little bit of leeway. They’re not in the game right now. Then you got the players who did it who are all scot-free.”
Markakis didn’t hold back as he continued to discuss the commissioner’s decisions.
“I know as players we do not agree with what they did. We don’t stand behind them and never will we support them for their actions. I think they got off pretty easy. They are going to be able to go out there and compete with no ramifications at all. I think the commissioner completely handed it the wrong way, but that’s the way he did it. That’s the way we got to live with it. I know a lot of people disagree with him. The way he handled the situation he should be embarrassed of himself.”
Markakis is the latest player to express anger over how MLB has handled the investigation. Some of the most vocal players have come from the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost to the Astros in the 2017 World Series.