Is Houston cheating?

[JP Hochbaum]

This is an interesting discovery on their improved spin rates.

https://www.birdsontheblack.com/blog/are-the-houston-astros-hacking-pitcher-spin-rates

"Every pitcher who threw a sinker gained RPM on their sinker after joining Houston. Same for sliders – the average increase on slider spin rate is 234 RPM. That’s nuts. Everyone but Morton gained RPM on their curveballs. Morton gained about 150 RPM on his cutter. The trend is clear: go to Houston, gain RPM!

Is Houston’s TrackMan giving hot spin readings? Probably not – last year, the team’s spin rates at home were only 13 RPM higher than on the road, and this year their home spin rates are actually lower than their road spin rates. Can’t blame the TrackMan.

Maybe the Astros have unlocked the secret to training spin rate. Maybe they’re doing it without foreign substances. However, if they are using foreign substances as Bauer appears to think, we should see an immediate, in-season increase for pitchers they acquire in-season. I checked for Justin Verlander. Guess what?"

 

[CubsFaninMN]

So... if Houston *was* found guilty of doctoring the balls in some new way that the umps can't immediately detect, what would happen?

Would the 2017 World Series title be taken away and the Dodgers given the default victory? Would Houston simply be otherwise punished with fines? Loss of draft picks? A "death sentence" of non-eligibility for post season play for a few seasons?

At what point does this totally owner-controlled league office just decide "hey, if you can cheat and get away with it, more power to you"? I guarantee you, the current league office would wink and look the other way if, for example, it was discovered that Aaron Judge was betting on baseball games. So, I guess the answer to my original question is "None of the above, they don't give a flying fuck if anyone out there is cheating."