Yes, the baseball world is aware the Houston Astros cheated during their run to the 2017 World Series title. However, there has been speculation the Astros’ illegal sign stealing methods were not exclusive to 2017. The New York Yankees certainly don’t believe it — neither does the Los Angeles Dodgers.
So much so, the Dodgers reportedly tipped the Nationals ahead of the 2019 World Series. Even Alex Cora, who was the Astros’ bench coach in 2017 and viewed as one of the masterminds of their cheating, warned the Nationals. Washington’s catcher Kurt Suzuki says the Nationals knew of Houston’s cheating ways and could hear them.
Add Los Angeles Angels third baseman Anthony Rendon to the fray. Rendon, who played with the Nationals during their run to their World Series title, echoed the Nats were aware of Houston stealing signs, per Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic.
“We were aware of it. We were aware of it throughout the entirety of the playoffs. We kind of have a sense of what teams were doing what, and so we can kind of just get a feel of what they might be doing.”
The Astros organization continues to contend they were not cheating last season.
The Nationals defeated the Astros in seven games to win the World Series, winning all four games played in Houston.
Spring Training has been marred by the fallout from the Astros. All eyes will be on them the foreseeable future. Rendon will get a close view, as he inked a seven-year deal worth $245 million with the Angels, who are in the AL West with the Astros.
