Mike Trout — despite being the best player in baseball and playing in Los Angeles — has a knack for avoiding controversy and staying out of headlines.
Trout didn't mince words on Monday, though, when discussing the Astros cheating scandal, saying he "lost respect for some of those guys."
Mike Trout is not happy with the Astros and the punishment they received pic.twitter.com/VDwJCFZXHl
— Rhett Bollinger (@RhettBollinger) February 17, 2020
Trout also said he didn't "agree with the punishment" levied against the organization. Former Astros manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow were fired by owner Jim Crane in January. Houston was also fined $5 million — the maximum financial penalty allowed under MLB rules — and forfeited its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.
MORE: MLB players rip Astros over sign-stealing
The MLB's nine-page report on the Astros revealed that the electronic sign-stealing scandal was largely player-driven. Despite that, commissioner Rob Manfred said that no players will receive punishment because Luhnow didn't relay a 2017 memo outlining the league's updated policy on technology use during games.
Players across the league have publicly ripped the Astros — and Manfred's decision not to punish the players. Even Trout, a three-time American League MVP who is sometimes criticized as being "bland," said, “Going up to the plate knowing what’s coming ... that would be a lot of fun.”
Another aspect of the Astros scandal is the rumor that players attached electronic buzzers to their bodies to know what pitches they were about to face. Manfred said recently "You can never know" if the Astros used buzzers during the 2019 season. The rumor was fueled by Jose Altuve's adamant refusal to let teammates rip his shirt after he hit the ALCS-clinching home run in 2019.
If Trout ever hits a walk-off in the league championship series?
“You can take my shirt off," he said. "If you hit a homer to send your team to the World Series at home, you can do whatever you want to me.”