The Astros need the Kennesaw Mountain solution. Manfred is spouting about respecting precedent. Respect the Black Sox ruling - ban them all from baseball. Shoeless Joe did less and got banned.
There’ll be some high and hard inside fastballs against the Astros early in the season. The umps will crackdown and the Astros will cry victim.
I agree. They should also have their World Series victory zeroed-out. It’s argued that you can’t just give it to the other team, it’s a crap way to win it. OK, so don’t. Treat it like a year that the players were on strike, just nullify it. Put a dash across win/loss columns of the record books for the 2017 World Series. For the Astros, assign them a 0-162 record and roll back all team and player stats for regular and post-season. The Astros should also have to turn in their World Series rings with a lifetime ban and huge fine for anybody that refuses. If I were commissioner-for-a-day, the only purpose of the 2017 Astros’ season would be to serve as a warning to others.