Los Angeles Dodgers infielder Justin Turner is very unhappy with commissioner Rob Manfred’s handling of the Houston Astros sign-stealing investigation.
Turner made extended remarks Monday about the interview and press conference Manfred did Sunday discussing the scandal and the defending the league’s handling of it. It was clear that Manfred’s argument did not resonate with Turner, who criticized the commissioner in lengthy remarks.
#Dodgers Justin Turner: "The more that comes out and the more that's been said the more frustrating it gets for us. … It's snowballing. I think it's pretty obvious whatever the commissioner thought he did, he didn't do it very well."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 17, 2020
#Dodgers Justin Turner: "Listening to the commissioner's interview yesterday talking about precedent, talking about there's never been a precedent — that's because it's never happened before. It's the first time in the game to my knowledge that this happened and …"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 17, 2020
"he just set the precedent. He set a weak precedent. So now anyone who goes forward and cheats to win a World Series they can live with themselves knowing that, 'Oh, it's okay.' We'll cheat to win a World Series and bring the title back to LA and screw Dave Roberts and …"
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 17, 2020
"screw Andrew (Friedman) it's just those guys losing their job. I still get to be called a champion the rest of my life. The precedent was set by him in this case and it was, as Cody said, a pretty weak precedent."
— Bill Plunkett (@billplunkettocr) February 17, 2020
Turner: "It all comes down to everyone keeps saying, 'The facts, the facts. You don't know the facts.' … I don't think anyone knows the facts. I think everyone just wants to hear all the facts. And I think that the commissioner didn't do a good job of revealing all the facts."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) February 17, 2020
Turner saved some of his harshest words for Manfred’s dismissive description of the World Series trophy as “a piece of metal,” which Manfred said when explaining why the Astros were not stripped of their title.
Turner on Manfred referring to World Series trophy as a piece of metal: "For him to devalue it the way he did yesterday just tells me how out of touch he is with the players in this game. At this point the only thing devaluing that trophy is that it says 'commissioner' on it."
— Jorge Castillo (@jorgecastillo) February 17, 2020
It is clear by now that Manfred’s PR exercise did nothing to calm the situation. If anything, it’s made it worse. The commissioner does not seem to get why people are mad or why this whole story isn’t dying off. Turner summed it up nicely: the precedent is bad, the punishments are weak, and it seems like some of the facts are still being hidden.
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