As spring training builds momentum, each day more and more players, teams, executives, and personnel are sharing their thoughts on the Houston Astros cheating scandal that continues to negatively dominate the sports narrative and incite more and more anger.
Miami Marlins’ CEO Derek Jeter, who was elected to be inducted in the Baseball Hall of Fame as a member of the New York Yankees, spoke about his thoughts, calling the Astros scandal a ‘black eye’ for the sport of baseball.
“It’s like a slow drip of responses coming out from everyone,” Jeter said at training camp on Monday (h/t ESPN). “You hope at some point people can just move on. But look, it’s unfortunate. It’s a black eye for the sport.”
“When you talk about people trying to get an edge in baseball, I don’t think that’s anything new” Jeter said. “People have been trying to do it for years,” Jeter said. “But, obviously, people took it way too far. And there are penalties for it. They’re paying the price.
“Regardless of what the penalties are, others are going to have their opinions on what they think should happen. You hope that over time it passes. But I’m sure this is going to sting for a while.”
Jeter has been widely criticized for how he has handled duties since taking over the direction of the Marlins franchise. As the team continues it’s brutal trend of losing, Jeter has helped orchestrate the franchise’s revamped, and improved, farm system, in hopes of building a brighter future for the long suffering franchise.
“This organization is in a lot better shape than when we took over,” Jeter said. “We should be a lot better this year than we were last year. I’ve always preached competition. We have an organization that is layered with talent. Guys are going to start pushing, and that’s a good thing.”
Jeter knows that losing has not left fans happy, and is not a selling point when trying to bring fans to games, but stressed the importance of building trust with the Marlins’ fan base.
“From the interactions I’ve had, people are starting to get excited,” Jeter said. “We’re trying to earn the trust of the fan base. It takes a little time. We’re hoping more people are starting to trust us, and they come out and give us a chance.”