© Troy Taormina | 2019 Sep 9
Mike Fiers blew the whistle on the biggest MLB scandal since the steroid era, and he’s already facing the consequences before even taking the mound.
Fiers, who made the first public comments about the Astros sign stealing scandal earlier this year, has received death threats according to a report by Susan Slusser in the San Francisco Chronicle. Both the MLB and A’s are aware of the threats and are taking measures to protect both the pitcher and his family, particularly during the A’s’ three trips to Houston this season, the team Fiers won a title with during the 2017 season.
Fiers seems nonplussed.
“Whatever, I don’t care. I’ve dealt with a lot of death threats before. It’s just another thing on my plate,” he told The Chronicle.
“We will take every possible step to protect Mike Fiers wherever he’s playing, whether it’s in Houston or somewhere else,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in Arizona on Tuesday.
Fiers hasn’t faced a ton of criticism for his MLB colleagues since blowing the whistle on the scandal, with almost all of the vitriol directed towards the Houston Astros and their unwillingness to show contrition for tactics that likely helped them win a World Series title.
One notable voice did speak out against Fiers on Thursday, however, when former Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz called him a snitch for not blowing the whistle while he was on the Astros.
“I’m mad at this guy, the pitcher who came out talking about it,” Ortiz said at JetBlue Park on Thursday. “And let me tell you why. Oh, after you make your money, after you get your ring, you decide to talk about it. Why don’t you talk about it during the season when it was going on? Why didn’t you say, ‘I don’t want to be no part of it? So you look like you’re a snitch. Why you gotta talk about it after? That’s my problem. Why nobody said anything while it was going on?”
The A’s host the Astros for the first time on March 31 and play in Houston for the first time on April 24.
