What Is The Real Issue In Baseball's New Scandal?

Just about a decade-plus removed from the entire steroid use era scandals in baseball new allegations begin to surface over "sketchy" techniques that certain teams used to try and pick up pitching signals from opposing teams.

So far just about 3 teams have fired their managers that where involved in the cheating scandal. The MLB has handed out suspensions left and right. Yet some people are still scratching their heads trying to figure out what exactly happened and why this is such a big issue

What Is The Actual Issue?

In a nutshell, this is what was happening. With replay reviews being implemented in major league baseball games there was now a new camera installed that would be directed at the opposing pitcher and teams could monitor them through a live feed.

Long story short teams like the Astros and then the Red Socks started to watch this live feed constantly to try and pick up signs and tells that would indicate what type of pitch the pitcher was going to throw. Then they would signal to their batters by striking a trash can or whistling in "code".

Should This Be A Big Deal?

So far there have been opposing views on the matter. A lot of players claim that this is really not that big of a deal. For years players and coaches have always tried to decrypt the signs that are being sent by pitchers and catchers to try and get a jump on the next pitch.

The issue that the MLB has with this particular situation is that now technology was being used to be able to get an edge. Basically, technology is the new steroids of this era. If you want to take a look at a longer explanation of the issue take a look at the video below.

Altuve's Buzzer

It seems that the big issue as was mentioned before was the fact that technology was being applied to cheat. Of course, the TV that was showing the live stream was the first guilty party.

In the past few days, a lot of speculation grew over whether or not players now wore wires or buzzers to get signals from the dugout. That would indicate what the next pitch was going to be. Since hitting a trash can turned out not to be subtle enough.

Will This Mean Vindication For Cheaters of the Past?

There are really two sides to every argument. In this case, there are those people who don't think that this is a big deal. They are ok with the 1-year bans. Others want managers like Alex Cora to take the Pete Rose road and be banned for life.

Could the light sentencing that people involved in this issue are getting mean that other past cheaters are going to be cut some slack? There is certainly going to be a bigger push for the likes of Pete Rose and Barry Bonds to get in the Hall of Fame. Maybe cheating is just part of baseball.