Karma is coming for the Astros

The Houston Astros still don’t get it.

It’s on the Oakland A’s or the Chicago White Sox to help them get the message.

The Astros, who suspiciously couldn’t hit this year and entered the expanded 2020 playoffs with the worst record of all qualifying teams, beat the Twins in their best-of-three series Wednesday, advancing them to the next round.

And apparently, beating a team that has now lost 18 straight playoffs games is reason to start talking all sorts of smack.

“I know a lot of people are mad. I know a lot of people don’t want to see us here,” shortstop Carlos Correa said. “But what are they going to say now?”

I’m going to say that the Astros beat a team that can’t help but roll over every postseason and that life won’t be so easy in the next round. So impressive…

But more importantly, Carlos, I’ll say that you should follow the advice you gave Dodgers star and outspoken critic of your cheating scandal, Cody Bellinger, before the season:

“Shut up.”

Well, he added a colorful word or two but you get the idea.

The Astros are cheaters. They were caught in the act and the team’s players were let off easy for their involvement in the sign-stealing scandal.

Now, are they the only cheaters in baseball? Hardly. But they were the ones dumb enough to get caught.

And they’re doing a bad job of wearing their shame.

The Astros have been brazen, unrepentant brats since their cheating was brought to light, with Correa leading the way.

He’s hardly alone, though. Remember when assistant coach Alex Cintrón (himself passed over for justice despite being involved in the sign-stealing scandal) thought it was a good idea to pick a fight with A’s outfielder Ramón Laureano, only to duck out of the way when such a challenge was accepted?

That moment and Correa running his mouth after beating the Twins — really, the Twins? — tells you everything you need to know about the Astros culture.

The Astros players and some coaches clearly think that because they received immunity from Major League Baseball in the investigation into their cheating, they now have immunity from criticism for it.

They don’t.

This may get me in some trouble, but it’s the truth: A lot of ballplayers aren’t exactly the sharpest tools in the shed. If one of those players was acting like this, I’d think of the situation differently.

But Correa, by all accounts, isn’t such a player. That’s why his petulance and gaslighting is so annoying.

And that’s why the Astros players playing the victim and turning that criticism into some rally-

ing cry is downright gross.

What really bothers me is that Correa seems to speak for the entire organization.

The Astros Twitter account — I know, I know, it’s just a team employee — trolled the world with Correa’s quote and a tweet after the game effectively said “u mad?”

The folks at the bottom of the Astros’ food chain aren’t embarrassed.

Astros owner Jim Crane’s non-apologies on the subject and denials of any responsibility made it clear months ago that the top of the food chain isn’t bothered, either.

And you wonder why the Astros’ culture is trash — no pun intended.

Major League Baseball let the Astros keep their trophy and their rings. Their place in the record book is not assailed, and over the course of time, fewer and fewer people will remember that the title was won on fraudulent grounds.

And the Astros have decided to rub our collective noses in that fact.

Apparently the joke’s on all of us. They got away with it.

But truth is, I’m ready to laugh at them — hard.

I know 2020 hasn’t been a good year for karmic balance, but there are still a few months left. And the A’s or White Sox — whichever team wins Thursday’s Game 3 at the Coliseum — can deliver that karma in big, fat doses.

So whichever team advances out of the wildcard round — the hometown squad or the south side nine — we have a new favorite team this postseason.

Because they’re playing the Astros, and the Astros need to be humbled in the worst kind of way.