Maybe Root For Nationals Over Astros

Given the Mets and Nationals play in the same division, you could understand the impulse for the fans to root for the Astros in the World Series. Recent events may want Mets fans to reconsider that position.

In an article written by Stephanie Apstein of Sports Illustrated, we learned after the ALCS Astros Assistant General Manager Brandon Taubman got aggressive with female reporters:

And in the center of the room, assistant general manager Brandon Taubman turned to a group of three female reporters, including one wearing a purple domestic-violence awareness bracelet, and yelled, half a dozen times, “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—— glad we got Osuna!”

To put it into perspective, this was said after Robert Osuna blew the save by allowing a game tying two run homer to DJ LeMahieu in the top of the ninth. This is the same Osuna who has a 5.27 postseason ERA with the Astros.

To put it another way, at a time where you’d expect the front office to celebrate George Springer, their 2011 first round pick who got the rally started, or Jose Altuve, a player they signed as a teenager for just a $15,000 signing bonus, who hit the pennant winning homer, they opted to celebrate the guy who blew the save.

The article noted these reporters were not speaking with Taubman, and no one was talking to or about Osuna. Of course, when the topic of Taubman’s behavior arose, the Astros declined to make him available to Apstein, and they declined comment.

That was they declined comment until the article was published. At that point, they opted to attack the reporter’s credibility:

It’s odd they would do that after a no comment. It’s almost as odd as the Astros going out and acquiring Osuna after they had implemented a zero tolerance policy where it came to domestic violence.

Issuing a statement after the fact leaves the impression the Astros aren’t being as truthful about the incident much like how their zero tolerance policy wasn’t exactly written in stone.

Further showing the Astros aren’t being forthright or truthful are the accounts from other reporters substantiating Apstein’s article based on both her integrity and their own observation of the incident.

https://twitter.com/hunteratkins35/status/1186474194772598784?s=21

By the way, this isn’t just some rogue front office executive. There’s a quote from Alex Bregman offered in support of Osuna.

Overall, there remains likeable players on this Astros team. That includes Justin Verlander who has been outspoken on this issue. On that note, he didn’t exactly condemn Osuna or the trade to obtain him last year.

Taking it all into account, it’s very difficult to root for this Astros team considering not just their support, but their belligerence when it comes to those who commit vile acts of domestic violence. Taking that into account, perhaps we should all be rooting for the Nationals.

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