MLB players react to new Astros conspiracy theory with anger, disbelief

Mark Townsend
·Yahoo Sports Contributor
Updated

January is typically the calm before the storm for Major League Baseball.

Not this year. The Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal has taken center stage in the sports news cycle.

The “buzz” hasn’t died down one bit since the league announced its punishments on Monday. In fact, it has only continued to build over the last 72 hours as A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow of the Astros, Alex Cora of the Boston Red Sox, and Carlos Beltran of the New York Mets, all lost their respective manager and general manager jobs due to their connection to the scandal.

Now, there’s a new conspiracy theory making the rounds after a Twitter user that claimed to be Carlos Beltran’s niece suggested Astros players wore buzzers under their jerseys that would signal which pitch was coming. Keen observers and Twitter sleuths alike quickly jumped on the bandwagon, leading to another uproar of anger and disbelief from around the league.

Here are some of the reactions from current and former players:

Jose Altuve, the three-time American League batting champion and AL MVP in 2017, has been at the center of the new allegations. He issued an immediate denial on Thursday, saying he’s ‘never, ever’ worn an electronic device designed to tip pitches.

MLB says it "explored wearable devices during the investigation but found no evidence to substantiate it,” but that hasn’t stopped players from taking shots at Altuve and his teammates.

That includes the always outspoken Trevor Bauer.

Needless to say, this story isn’t going away. With spring training less than one month away, the anger is not going to subside before the new campaign officially begins. In fact, it could keep right on building as new information comes to the surface. If that proves true, this might be the most tension-filled season in MLB history.

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