Lawsuit by disgruntled ex-Jay might make Astros pay a price
CHISHOLM continued on S4
Mike Bolsinger likely doesn’t stand a chance in court, but one way or another he’s going to make the Astros pay for ending his Major League Baseball career on a sour note.
Bolsinger shocked the baseball community on Monday by filing a lawsuit against Houston in Los Angeles County Superior Court. The former Blue Jay is seeking unspecified damages from the Astros for harming his career during the 2017 regular season.
The suit is tied to accusations that the Astros used an elaborate system to steal signs from opposing teams during the run-up to their World Series title. The allegations were brought to light by former Houston right-hander Mike Fiers and led to an internal MLB investigation earlier this off-season.
Bolsinger faced Houston on Aug. 4, 2017 and hasn’t put on a big-league uniform since. The former 15th-round pick allowed four runs on four hits and three walks in a third of an inning against a team that allegedly knew what pitch he was about to throw. Bolsinger was designated for assignment after the game and later outrighted to the minors. By 2018, he was pitching in Japan.
The lawsuit will attempt to prove Bolsinger’s career was directly impacted by Houston’s misconduct and that’s not going to be easy because his time with the Jays started to run out long before the Astros series. The native of Chicago lost his spot in the starting rotation and had been DFA’d once
before in 2017. After going unused for almost two weeks in late July, it was on the verge of happening again.
Toronto didn’t give up Bolsinger because of one bad outing and 29 other teams didn’t, either. Having only played for three teams, Bolsinger wasn’t quite a journeyman, but he was close to it and as he approached age 30, he was nearing an age when fringe arms are often forced out of the game. A career ERA of 4.92 wasn’t helping his cause. It’s easy to understand why Bolsinger feels resentment toward the Astros; it’s much harder to make the legal argument that he should be paid out because of it.
A settlement between Houston and Bolsinger doesn’t seem likely, either. Under different circumstances, the Astros might be tempted to spend some money to make this go away, but that could open the floodgates.
If Bolsinger got paid, Cesar Valdez and Matt Dermody, who also haven’t pitched since that Aug. 4 game, would want something too. Players from other organizations would surely follow.
Bolsinger appears to be facing an even steeper climb in court than he did on the mound. So, one might wonder, why bother? What’s the point? Bolsinger probably won’t be able to make the Astros open their wallets, but he can make their lives difficult in a lot of other ways if he decides to pursue this case. Just imagine the witnesses his lawyer might call to the stand, or some of the evidence that would be presented as part of the discovery process. It might not lead to a big payday, but it would become must-watch television with the potential to cause even more embarrassment to an Astros team that disgraced the game.
The lawsuit also will put renewed attention on the league, which has seen its investigation called into question the last few weeks. MLB labelled the sign-stealing scandal a player-driven initiative that absolved ownership and the front office from taking most of the blame. Year-long suspensions were handed out to general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch, but commissioner Rob Manfred was clear: This wasn’t their idea, it was the players’.
That official response can no longer be taken at face value after the Wall Street Journal reported on a letter Manfred allegedly sent Luhnow before MLB’s findings were released in January. Per the WSJ, Manfred stated the league knew the sign-stealing idea originated from the front office and there were emails to prove it. That’s a much different version of events than the ones Manfred outlined to the public earlier this year. Bolsinger’s case could help separate fact from fiction.
Bolsinger will be hardpressed to win a dime in court, but with Astros camp set to open this week he has presented another round of questions for the cheats who disgraced the game. If you can’t beat them, you can still make their lives a bit more miserable. In this case, Houston deserves it.