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They cheated. They cheated. There were 23 home runs hit in the ALDS this year. The ones from the A's because they were a genuinely good team, but the ones from the Astros had to be from cheating. If you don't believe me, let me rephrase that for you. The ones from the Astros, the 29-31 Astros with a .483 winning percentage, had to be from cheating. Oh, and let's talk about that record. In the playoffs, the Astros are 5-1. And here's the funny thing. None of their games have been at home. In 2020, the Astros were 20-8 at home. On the road, they were 9-23. (cheating) Here are some statistics if you still don't believe me. As a team, the Astros hit 69 home runs as a team. In the postseason alone they hit 13 home runs. That's 18.84% of the home runs they hit all year. And it's been 10% of the games. (cheating) Let's look at some individual players. A lot of players had down seasons in 2020, such as Jose Altuve who hit .219 with 5 home runs and 18 RBIs in 48 games (192 plate appearances). In the playoffs, he's hitting .273 with 1 home run and 6 RBIs in 6 games (22 plate appearances). Also, Carlos Correa is an interesting case in the 2020 Cheating Scandal. He hit .264 with 5 home runs and 25 RBIs in 58 games (170 plate appearances). So far in the postseason, he's hitting .500 with 4 home runs and 12 RBIs in 6 games (20 plate appearances). Let's break that down, using the numbers. He had 170 plate appearances in the regular season, hitting 5 home runs, and in 11.76% of the plate appearances, he's hit only one less home run. A .500 average over 6 games is no joke. Either he's on a major hot streak or he's cheating. You can guess what I think. (cheating) Another statistic I want to go over is their record over the teams they've played. Yeah, they haven't played the Twins all year but the A's are in their division, so let's just take a look at their stats vs. the A's. (I don't think they're that good). The Astros were 7-3 vs. the Astros in the regular season but somehow, they came and beat the A's in 4 games (3-1). Yup, I know what they're doing. (cheating). I'm going to be watching the ALCS closely. I'm going to continue to look at statistics closely. I'm going to monitor stats closely. I'm going to write an ALCS post to this article after the ALCS is over. The ALCS Edition. Leave a COMMENT below to tell what you think. Did the Astros cheat or is this a pure hot streak?

As we enjoy the new free agents and trades and speculate about the new season we have to also know that the new season comes with one overwhelming story - the Astros and their sign stealing. I cannot solve or resolve this issue although this does give the Twins some hope that this really good team might stumble and present one less obstacle to our own World Series hopes. I do have to admit that going from video and computer to banging a garbage can presents a really hilarious combination. Should the Astros relinquish their title? If it were the tour de France they would - ask Lance Armstrong. If it were the Olympics they might take back the records - ask Jim Thorpe (if you have psychic powers). If it is the NCAA you can ask Louisville (2013) about its basketball record, the UCLA women's softball team (1995), USC football (2004), Marion Jones Olympics (2000), Ben Johnson Olympics (1988), or Mohammed Ali boxing championship (1967). Baseball has a huge rule book and almost everything has been violated. While Jim Perry put up great records for the Twins and he has made our team hall of fame, his brother Gaylord made the MLB HOF despite his admittance and jokes about spitballs. McGuire, Bonds, Sosa, and Clemens have been judged by HOF voters to not make it - yet, but their records still stand? Why. If they cheated their records should not stand either. But they will - lets see Rose has the most hits, but is not eligible for the HOF, Bonds has the most HRs but is not in the HOF. We have some funny standards in MLB. Only the Black Sox have had their title removed - so why not the Astros? Will Beltran still get HOF votes - Jackson, Cicotte and others from his team did not? We now know that the HR heard around the world - the most famous playoff HR was actually tainted by having someone tip off Thomson and Ralph Branca has had to wear the goat crown ever since (not the new G.O.A.T). In an interview after we learned about this infraction this was a pertinent. AMOS: So they cheated? Mr. PRAGER: Yes, they did. Baseball has a sort of strange relationship with the stealing of signs. When you're standing on second base and you're peering in and stealing the sign with the naked eye, baseball not only allows that, it applauds that. But when, on the other hand, you use a telescope, they don't feel that that's appropriate. The full interview can be found here - it is very appropriate for this season. https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6186829 Of course this is not a full measure of cheating, stealing signs, cutting up or doctoring the ball and the Twins have not been immune - check out Joe Niekro Of course Joe was a former ASTRO!

In an era when bullpen has higher profile that starters it is surprising to see a team that prides itself on analytic decisions trade away the pitcher with the most potential and raw stuff to the American League's best team. Yes we got two prospects, but they are still raw and a gamble while Pressly is 29 and in his prime. Of course all our pitching gurus must answer for the disparity between his 3.40 Twins ERA (not bad) and his 0.77 Astro ERA (amazing). Or his whip - 1.364 Twins and 0.60 Astros. To quote the NYT - "Pressly rarely betrays any signs of emotional turmoil, whether it emanates from a poignant moment or from the stakes of a game heating up. He is a major component in a revamped Astros bullpen for the defending world champions, who had so many fraught moments last October that they had to turn to starting pitchers to close games." https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/15/sports/baseball/astros-red-sox-alcs-ryan-pressly.html?emc=edit_th_181016&nl=todaysheadlines&nlid=275511921016 He generated twice as much WAR in 1/2 as many games with the Astros. "Only three pitchers who threw at least 60 innings this season have had a swing-and-miss rate higher than Pressly: Craig Kimbrel of the Red Sox, Edwin Diaz of Seattle and Josh Hader of Milwaukee, three of baseball’s elite relievers." "Pressly is the latest pitcher to experience a renaissance in Houston, which has been at the forefront of baseball’s analytics revolution. Charlie Morton has posted the two best years of his career, Gerrit Cole allowed fewer hits and struck out more than he ever has — leading baseball with 12.4 strikeouts per nine innings — and Justin Verlander has rediscovered his Cy Young form at 35. All three were All-Stars this season." Yes our FO is gaining an unearned reputation as analytics leaders, but the proof is in the way the roster is constructed and the players develop. So far not so good Now we will seek to build a weak bullpen by hitting the FA market and hoping we find a guy who can make the pen better - a guy like Ryan Pressly.