Former Blue Jays Pitcher Suing Astros Over Cheating Scandal

data-mm-id=”_1ps8fwv6q”>While the Los Angeles City Council can crow all they want about how the Houston Astros' cheating scandal robbed them of at least one World Series title, they're far from the only party affected. The line between making it in the bigs and getting sent down to the minors is razor-thin as it stands. The Astros knowing what pitch was coming may not have affected the bottom line for guys like Clayton Kershaw, but there were numerous pitchers they faced off with during the time they were cheating. Every pitch mattered for some of those pitchers. Mike Bolsinger was one of those pitchers. He played against the Astros in 2017, and in one third of an inning, gave up four runs, four hits, and three walks. He hasn't played in the major leagues since. USA Today reports Bolsinger is now suing the Astros' organization, filing a civil lawsuit. From the article: “Bolsinger filed a civil lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, accusing the Astros of unfair business practices, negligence and intentional interference with contractual and economic relations. Yes, Bolsinger is seeking unspecified damages, but they’re not all for himself. He wants the Astros to forfeit the roughly $31 million in bonuses from their ill-gotten World Series title, and for the money to go to charities in Los Angeles focused on bettering kids’ lives, as well as to create a fund for retired baseball players who need financial assistance.”- USA Today This holds more water than the petition filed to retroactively hand the Dodgers the 2017 and 2018 World Series titles, but I don't know how successful Bolsinger will be. I am no lawyer, but it seems hard to draw a direct line of evidence from the Astros knowing what pitch was coming to the impact it had on Bolsinger's performance. This is if only because there isn't any hard data (that we're aware of) that can tell us when, exactly, the Astros were using cameras to steal signs, when they relayed those signs, and how much that altered the outcome of the game. It did affect the outcome, don't get me wrong, but can Bolsinger (or anybody) prove in court that it affected the outcome to the extent they should be penalized $31 million?Tough to tell. Bolsinger, at least, will be trying.

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