MLB's offseason gave us the cheating "scandal" brought to surface by A's pitcher Mike Fiers. But it appears his explosive interview with The Athletic back in November was not the first time Major League Baseball knew about it.
The San Francisco Chronicle's Susan Slusser reported Wednesday that manager Bob Melvin said the A's had called the league about the Astros cheating allegations prior to Fiers going on record.
"Everyone was fed up with it," Melvin told Slusser.
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Slusser later confirmed with A's general manager David Forst that the team did indeed make an official complaint through the front office.
Fiers was with the Astros team in 2017 that would go on to win the World Series. He said the team stole signs during home games in real time with the assistance of an outfield camera.
“I told the teams I was on, I didn’t know how far the rules went with MLB, but I knew [the Astros] were up to date, if not beyond,” Fiers said in The Athletic interview. “I had to let my team know so that we were prepared when we went to go play them at Minute Maid (Park).”
His former Astros manager, A.J. Hinch, has since been relieved of his duties in a slew of punishments handed down by the league and the Astros. Hinch spoke out in a recent interview with MLB Network's Tom Verducci.
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"I haven't spent a lot of time focusing on the emotional side of the reaction to Mike telling the story and getting this message out,” Hinch told Verducci. “I wish I would have had an environment and a culture that was better for him to have come to me in real time. I wish I could have done better, to maybe get that nudge to make better leadership decisions. I focus on that."
Hinch appeared to answer the questions without admitting fault or apologizing.
[RELATED: Fiers doubles down on future, past Astros scandal]
As for Fiers, his teammates voiced support of what he did during the team's media day in late January. Melvin even dubbed him a "hero," and said the team was aware of the sign-stealing.
The Astros players were not made available to media on Wednesday, but you can imagine everyone will be ready to ask questions and wait for a public apology.