Mike Trout Now Criticizing the Astros Proves This Scandal Needs to Be Taken as Serious as Ever

Mike Trout is the best player in baseball. He has the richest contract in baseball history. He's sure to be a first-ballot Hall of Famer, perhaps even if he retired today. He's a role model for hundreds of thousands of kids.

So, when a player of that magnitude speaks and is still atop his game at the highest level, people need to listen more closely. Trout and his Angels share a division with the Houston Astros, and we can now add them to the list of those immensely disappointed with how everything's transpired.

Mike Trout says he lost respect for some of the Astros, thinks the players should be punished. He also talked about how much fun he’d have hitting if he knew what pitches were coming.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) February 17, 2020

Keep in mind that this is a guy who isn't particularly outspoken on anything. He's an enigmatic superstar in the sense that he's probably one of the least-recognized "faces of his sport" we've ever seen. That's still hard to fathom for most avid baseball fans who could spot him from a mile away, but that's the reality.

So when he went on to comment on the idea that MLB commissioner Rob Manfred should probably do more to penalize the organization as a whole, it really speaks volumes.

"I don’t know what. But to cheat like that and not get anything, it’s sad to see.”
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) February 17, 2020

But maybe Manfred isn't listening, because, you know, Trout doesn't do enough to market himself, so how could he never know the superstar said something about it?

Right?

Nonetheless, these are strong words from a contemporary baseball icon, and they need to be taken seriously -- and whoever was involved in the Astros scandal should really use Trout's response to reflect on the magnitude of their actions.