Boiling Denim said:
Mathguy64 said:
Three years of a historically great offense doesn't turn to mush for 50 games for no reason.
I mean there is an obvious reason. Just because we as fans have chosen to look past it and move on doesn't mean there isn't a contributing factor missing that may have improved the team's offensive success over these last 3 years.
So you're saying sign stealing is the reason Altuve, the one who didn't use it at all, and the rest of the team that didn't use it last year or most of 2018 (confirmed by all independent sources) have been struggling... stop self-flagellating.
The much more likely answer is that the distraction of constantly answering questions about it or having to refute the stupidest conspiracy theories about buzzers and other nonsense distracted a team. The negative publicity really seems to impact Altuve, who HAS BEEN A GREAT HITTER SINCE HE ENTERED THE LEAGUE, who didn't use the sign stealing, and the negative attention messed with his focus, preparation, and maybe even motivation. Add in COVID, a shortened season, Lack of urgency due to expanded playoffs, etc. and it's a mental thing. You can tell he's lost and has no approach up there.
Get over yourself if you think the only reason Bregman or Altuve was good was because of sign stealing 3 years ago.