Astros Confiscating Fans' Anti-Houston Signs Will Only Make Scandal Worse

Without hesitation there was already controversy at the Houston Astros' first spring training game on Saturday. Fans who were considered to be "heckling" had their gameday signs confiscated by team officials, who claimed signs weren't permitted in the park.

We later found out that was a lie considering fans in seats further away were sporting signs of their own, so it's clear those sitting closest to the players were targeted.

While the Astros organization is trying to limit the negativity surrounding the franchise, all they're doing in this situation is hurting themselves further by worsening the team's image.

Let's also not forget about the "stealing signs" puns that have resulted from this moment. You're giving the people more ammo!

The 2017 World Series champions cheated throughout their title-winning season, and many others are convinced they also cheated in 2018 and 2019. For some reason, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred decided not to punish the players, citing that the public's response would be punishment enough. But by allowing signs to be confiscated, they are effectively shutting down the public's reactions to the shameful ordeal.

This will not be going away anytime soon.

The MLB gives lifetime bans to players who took steroids or bet on games, suspend players who throw at batters, but when players cheat their way to a championship, there are no repercussions? Furthermore, fans who bring signs disagreeing with the cheating get them taken away? This seems completely backwards.

The icing on the cake? The signs that were confiscated weren't even inappropriate.

However people may feel about the cheating scandal, we can all agree this is just an awful look for the Astros organization.