Dodgers Team News

Dodgers: Kenley Jansen Slams Astros Punishment, Weighs Levels of Cheating

Thus far, several prominent members of the Los Angeles Dodgers have weighed in on the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing and subsequent lack of believable apology. Already, Cody Bellinger and Clayton Kershaw have given their differing but genuine thoughts on the subject. Now, closer Kenley Jansen got in on the action.

In short, he’s not impressed.



First he calls out the punishment — or lack thereof for players at least — as the “weakest in sports history. This just so happens to come one day after a European soccer club was banned for two seasons and fined $30 euros for financial transgressions.

While the crimes obviously aren’t exactly the same, the divide between the levels of punishment is astonishing.

Nevertheless, Kenley continues his thoughts with Bill Plunkett of the OC Register.

Notably, Jansen feels that the Astros’ antics were the lowest of the low.

Kenley Jansen called Astros sign-stealing “worse than gambling, worse than steroids.” “At least back then (steroid era), everyone had to be on steroids. It was a fair game.”

Of course, you remember that the Dodgers were about to go up two games to none on the Astros in Los Angeles when Marwin Gonzalez took a piece of Jansen that he can never have back. After that, the series became the topsy turvy affair that it is known as today.

The only difference is what we have learned since.

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Some speculate that Jansen, as we know him, has never been the same since that swing by Marwin Gonzalez. Indeed, that was in a road park. But the bottom line is throughout that entire series, the Dodgers were walking into a booby trap and stacked deck.

Obviously legacies were changed forever, and they will be forever bound as brothers and ‘should be’ champions because of what Houston chose to do.

Now with Jansen’s thoughts out there, three of the most prominent Dodgers from that fateful 2017 squad have spoken. All we can do is hope for some retribution, and the 2020 version of the Dodgers are set to open the season tied with the Yankees as favorites in the sport to win it all.

Do you agree with Jansen? Was it the worst form of cheating in the history of the game? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

NEXT: Carlos Correa Proclaims 2017 Astros as Clean Winners and Focuses on Cody Bellinger Error

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21 Comments

  1. Examples must be made of all those who participated. Players especially. They have tainted the game. All “pros” that children look up to must show sportsmanship and fairplay. It’s a disgrace and should not be tolerated. The commissioner must take swift and severe action or should be asked to resign if he refuses to do so. MLB has or had an image to uphold. There are codes of ethics that were violated. Pete Rose may have been overly punished. The old timers white Sox 1919 justly punished but the steroid scandal and the houston Astros not punished? If no consequences why wouldn’t another team scheme up another way to cheat and roll the dice to see how far they can get. Maybe a world title ? PUNISH THEM OR IMPEACH THE COMMISSIONER

  2. I’m not sure if it was worse than the steroid period but doesn’t really matter both were wrong and have hurt the game we all love so much. That’s what angers me for the Astro’s lack of respect for B.B. in general and the terrible example they set for all the young kids not across the nation but worldwide that’s it ok to cheat for winning must be everything. Well look at them now with a tarnished W.S. title that no one outside of the Houston area considers legit any longer and I cannot understand how they can pride themselves with that.

    1. Steroids was individual players cheating. This is a whole organization cheating, GM, manager, personnel and players. Totally different level of cheating and in my opinion much, much worse because of it.

  3. I’m not sure if it was worse than the steroid period but doesn’t really matter both were wrong and have hurt the game we all love so much. That’s what angers me for the Astro’s lack of respect for B.B. in general and the terrible example they set for all the young kids not only across the nation but worldwide showing them that’s it ok to cheat for winning must be everything. Well look at them now with a tarnished W.S. title that no one outside of the Houston area considers legit any longer and I cannot understand how they can pride themselves with that.

  4. Strip the Astro’s of the win & every player, coach, management involved should be suspended for 2-3 seasons!!

  5. The Dodgers are speaking out, and showing a fighting attitude. They are ignoring Manfred’s illegitimate gag order. I like it. That kind of fire could lead to a title. I think it will be the Dodgers and the Yankees in the WS. If the Dodgers maintain the fighting attitude, they’ll win it all this year. They have the weapons. Friedman’s done his job. Now they have the attitude too. I also think this recent display of fighting spirit puts last year’s 106 win total well within reach.

    1. Seems like we’re being set up for Dodgers Astros series where they beat us fair and square to further the tragedy that is the Dodgers

  6. Plain and simple….the Astros are not apologetic about what they did….they dont realize they changed the lives of many by their cheating….even the owner keeps saying how they won the World Series fair and square….if I were a player for the Astros….I would b so embarrassed to the point where I would demand a trade or retire….Rob Lowe said it all on his shirt….The Houston Asterisks

  7. The Astros don’t get it, every time they open their mouths some thing stupid comes out. They even throw some of their own team mates under the bus, but they didn’t cheat and won the World Series fairly. I can see why Dusty Baker has already put the warning light on for hitting players, but they do need to be hit. Also, Manfred seems like a nice guy, but he is nothing more then a chicken shit. Tell me teams like the Padres or Cleveland would take the team penalties like what the Astros for a World Serires title.

  8. I just want to tell you that I think that the punishment for the Astros should be more severe than what was given. Take away the title, put restrictions on them and ban them from playing in a World Series even if they win the last game. The Dodgers deserve the Title and more than that should be given the World Series Title because of what the Houston Astros did. So many people have spoken out against the Astros and the commissioner is not doing anything at all. He should put a harsher punishment on the Astros and again I say take the title away.

  9. Hey we spend a fortune every year going to Dodger games. Who represents the fans?

    The commissioner certainly doesn’t care about us, the players associations is a corrupt outfit that protects the cheaters rather than the honest players.

    They tried to mute our team and players. What did they expect us to do? The players and the fans a rightfully upset.

    Something must be done about this. Giving the commissioner his walking papers would be a good place to start.

  10. So, Dusty Baker wants MLB to take action to stop criticism of the Astros and to ensure that pitchers don’t throw at his players. According to Dusty, ” Its no good for the game, its not good for kids to see it…” Really? The Astros cheating was not good for the game, the Astros cheating was not good for the kids to see it (or find out later that is what they were watching.) Perhaps it will behoove Dusty to focus his energy on teaching his players, who are all big boys, that there are real consequences for their actions. And players from other teams are seemingly in no hurry to forgive and forget-nor are baseball fans. Also, Dusty may want to take action himself and stop Correa from defensively countering comments made by players from other teams. Correa’s self-righteousness and attempts at fact-checking is laughable.

  11. The proper punishment here is to vacate that World Series. It can never be known for sure if that was what enabled them to win but it seems like a definite that it had an affect on the games. But the biggy here is that they blatantly cheated and were caught. Most, if not all of the players knew about this. They need to be punished. Take away the trophy and all the world series rings and mark every player on that team as a cheater. That is the only punishment I am willing to accept.

  12. We’ve heard much from players and fans from across the league we’re all ready to (in the infamous words of every LAstro player) move forward, but take some time and thumb through Houston media websites and check out the interviews and fan posts if you want some outstanding entertainment. One article discusses Mike Fiers motives and a Houston fan posted this juicy comment:

    “Mike Fiers has credibility when he returns his WS ring and that tainted extra check he got for being on the winning team. He’s a fraud.”

    …and my response:

    “Haha…you can say the same thing about a WS trophy sitting at Minute Maid and the team that will lack credibility until they return it too. I absolutely love your comment. Thank you sooooo much. Wear your Orange with pride!!”

    The LAstro Apology Tour is so much fun, far better than the Hot Stove discussions we had during the offseason. I just hope to God they don’t hire a reputable PR firm.

  13. First, I’m a Dodger fan and have been since the infield rarely changed night to night (Very, Russell, Lopes, Garvey).

    Baseball has used signs…forever. You don’t want the other team to know what pitch is coming, or what the runners might be doing. If you were able to figure it out you’d have a huge advantage.

    The Astros figured it out, and had a huge advantage. The question is…is that cheating??

    Wouldn’t the Dodgers have had an even more significant advantage if the changed the signs night to night…or inning to inning? Best believe they would have. But they didn’t!

    With all the film, and video evaluations available…the Dodgers, arguably, should have picked up on the sign stealing and made their own adjustments.

    Cheating would be using corked bats, or throwing spit balls, spiking another player, fooling with the lighting, tossing loaded balls out to the umpire during their at bats, tossind dead balls out during visitor at bats…and hundreds of other creative possibilities.

    The Astros didn’t do that. They found a way to eliminate secret signs used by the other team. The ultimate home field advantage. An advantage that,once again, could have easily been countered. If countered it would have provided and even greater advantage than the one the Astros created.

    Knowing what pitch is coming is such a great advantage that it would be near impossible to win a game at that level if were up against it. Proof being those games being so hotly discussed.

    But at that level, if aren’t proactive in your protection of such valuable information…well…shame on you for your lack of creativity, and your inability to understand that life isn’t fair.

    The will to win is king in professional sport. The creation of such a valuable exploit should have been expected. If you are going to rely on secret signs then you must be aware people are trying to steal them. If you don’t change your signs, you lose. That should be the end of it.

    No punishment, no lost jobs, and no player suspensions. Just a league that must incorporate new rules, and lessons to be learned both inside and outside the yard…For young and old alike.

  14. Honestly, there is no PR firm (reputable or otherwise) that can help the Astros right now. The Astros and their lack of repentance are their “own worse enemy.” Still, the organization can pay me to tell each and every one of the players to own what they have done (while they suck up everything they have coming to them) with no excuses/ no deflections/ no minimizing and no defensiveness.

  15. I live in Houston but have been a Dodger fan since 1988. It is embarrassing to see how the Houston fans are not embarrassed by their team. I would have a hard time being a Dodger fan if we would have done this ever again. This is the worst cheating we have seen so far. This coming year will tell all how good the Astros really are as a team without having a huge advantage. I see them struggling to win their division. The Dodgers need to use this energy to be more focused and finally win it all once again. I do see them having to trade for pitching later in the year though. The offense could get them past their suspect starting rotation.

    1. I respect your insight and comments. And its great to be reminded that Dodgers-love can be found everywhere (especially in Houston right now.) I, too, look forward to seeing how the Astros play this season without having that “huge advantage.” And I truly believe that our Dodgers will, in fact, use all of this (understandable) energy to be focused and do what we need to in 2020.

  16. Stealing signs in and of itself is not the issue as I’m sure that has been going on for 100+ years. The issue is the use of modern technology to steal signs.

    I think that MLB should declare the 2017 (and possibly 2018) World Series title (s) to be “tainted” and if the Astros (and possibly Red Sox depending on outcome of investigation) want to hold on to tainted title that’s their unfortunate choice but there should be asterisk and quotation marks. And make sure the explanation about the cheating is prominent as an example to others. Perhaps also ban the Astros and possibly Red Sox from postseason play for one to three seasons.

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