DUSTY BAKER SEEKS TO END ASTROS BASHING
Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker has gone from hoping aloud that fallout from his new team’s sign-stealing scandal would go away quickly to accepting that the back-and-forth is lingering.
“You realize it’s going to take a while to move on. You don’t just move on, just ‘cause you say, ‘Move on.’ We do realize that sometimes the guys have something to say. Sometimes you guys have a job to do,” Baker told reporters Sunday at spring training. “Everything heals in time, and I’m just hoping that the time to heal has come and gone.”
Then he added: “Probably not, but I hope so.”
This comes 72 hours after Houston’s poorly received news conference and attempts to apologize, when Baker said, “We’re hoping that we don’t have to continue to answer these questions, and hopefully we can get the season started because it has been a distraction.”
Bauer gets positive reaction
Cincinnati Reds pitcher Trevor Bauer says he has gotten positive response to his criticism of a plan being considered by Major League Baseball to expand the playoffs, one that includes an extended break for top seeds and some teams choosing who they will play.
Bauer directed his ire toward Commissioner
Rob Manfred in a tweet last week: “Your proposal is absurd for too many reasons to type on twitter and proves you have absolutely no clue about baseball. You’re a joke.”
Deep into a lengthy interview with ESPN aired Sunday about the Houston Astros’ signstealing scandal, Manfred was asked specifically about his reaction to Bauer’s tweet that characterized the commissioner as a joke.
“Well, I think if you look back on the questions we’ve already gone through, I’m pretty good about accepting people’s views and criticisms,” Manfred told ESPN. “I don’t have to agree with them, and I’ll say this about that particular comment. No matter how much, how completely I disagreed with what a player thought about something, there’s no way I would speak about a major league player like that.”
Suter, Brewers reach 2-year deal
Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Brent Suter reached a twoyear, $2.5 million deal Sunday that avoids an arbitration hearing that had been set for next week. The 30-year-old Suter returned from Tommy John surgery last September and went 4-0 with a 0.49 ERA in nine relief appearances, helping the Brewers earn an NL wild-card spot.
Suter had mostly been a starter the previous two seasons with Milwaukee before having elbow surgery in July 2018.