The 2020 MLB season is about to get started (*provided the 'rona doesn't ruin it) on July 23. The schedule was announced on July 6 for the 60-game schedule for each team. The schedule was developed by region in order to make travel easier on teams. With all that worked out, you knew it wouldn't be long before the trolls came calling. I've decided to pen this letter to all the trolls out there.

Dear Astros trolls:

The obvious

We all know the Astros were caught cheating in their run to the 2017 World Series title. They stole signs using means banned by MLB. Guess what? So did a lot of other teams! It's been going on since the invention of the game! The Yankees and MLB actually collaborated to get a sealed document suppressed because MLB couldn't have their Golden Goose outed as one of the cheaters. This is despite them already being fined, along with the Red Sox (the Silver Goose), prior to the 2017 season for using Apple Watches to steal signs. Those in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. There's a glass house in every MLB city.

Astros accepted their fate

This team didn't do the best job accepting their fate initially. Owner Jim Crane went scorched Earth firing GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager A.J. Hinch. The initial statements by players were awkward. Crane didn't make it better by being awkward himself. However, they managed to get it together and rallied around one another. Carlos Correa's interview with Ken Rosenthal on February 15 of this year was the best piece of rebuttal from the Astros because it was heartfelt, unscripted, and was out of character for a guy who's normally very buttoned up or calculated (go to the 13:05 mark for the buildup to the STFU comment).

Snitches get stitches

The only reason this got out was because Mike Fiers (a pitcher on the 2017 Astros) decided to spill the beans in November 2019. He acted like a scorned lover because the Astros refused to pay him what he wanted after the 2017 season. He had to take $6 million from the Tigers to play in 2018, then got traded to Oakland where he signed a two-year deal. He had no reason to snitch other than being bitter after two years. In sports, what happens in the locker room, stays in the locker room. Seeing as how he violated this law, I don't know how his teammates can trust him.

Clowns

Guys like "Tyler" Bauer, which he was once called by Alex Bregman, are clowns. (So let's continue to have some fun with his name throughout this article). They could never get the job done when it counts, so they troll as hard as they can. He's never won anything of any significance. He's only been an All-Star once (2018), and has never won any other team or individual awards. I gave him credit for going after Curt Schilling on Twitter for his outrageous views, but realize he's only pandering for an audience and reaction, therefore, rendering anything he does irrelevant. The tweet above is typical of failure culture: you cling to anything that prevented you from the successes you failed at and make fun of them because you couldn't beat them. "Timmy" Bauer should concentrate on being a better pitcher instead of catering to social media. You make more money when you're actually good at your job than when you're a social media troll.

In conclusion

"Travis" Bauer should probably work on getting onto a team that may actually have a chance at winning something instead of the Reds who haven't won anything in 30 years. Maybe the trolls should be concentrating on why their team sucks as bad as they do, instead of why they can't hit breaking balls or field balls hit into the gaps sharply. But hey, what do I know? I'm just a columnist for a Houston website that happens to be an Astros fan. "Timothy" Bauer is a decent pitcher, but his trolling of the Astros for kicking his and everyone else's ass in 2017 has grown to pitiful levels. This is looking like a group of kids upset that the new kid has figured out how to pass the new math testing standard better than the rest, so they're pissed! "Theodore" Bauer and company should chill and STFU like Carlos Correa suggested. Trying to throw stones from a glass house doesn't work well. The 2017 World Series win will stand for the same reasons Correa listed in that interview with Rosenthal. Bauer and his band of trolls need to recognize that won't change. Say what you may, print shirts, tweet, post on IG and whatever else, but it won't change the fact that the Astros are the 2017 World Series champs and that's something you can suck on for the rest of your miserable lives!