Ortiz: Fiers ‘looking like a snitch’ in Astros cheating

FORT MYERS, Fla. (AP) — Retired Boston Red Sox slugger David Ortiz said that Astros pitcher Mike Fiers was “looking like a snitch” for disclosing the team’s cheating scandal only after he had left the team.

“Oh, after you make your money, after you get your ring, you decide to talk about it?” Ortiz said after arriving at the Red Sox spring training complex on Thursday. “Why didn’t you talk about it during the season when it was going on? Why didn’t you say, ‘I don’t want to be part of it?’

“So you’re looking like a snitch,” said Ortiz, who works for the Red Sox under the title special assistant. “Why do you have to talk about it after? That’s my problem. Why did nobody say anything while it was going on?”

The Astros were found to violate baseball rules by using video to steal opponents signs during their World Series championship season of 2017. After Fiers blew the whistle to The Athletic this offseason, Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, manager A.J. Hinch and bench coach Alex Cora — who had moved on to manage the Red Sox — all lost their jobs in the wake of the scandal.

Ortiz did defend Commissioner Rob Manfred, who has been criticized for failing to punish any players for cheating. Major League Baseball is also investigating reports that the Red Sox had a similar scheme when they won it all in 2018.

“People need to chillax and let him do his job,” Ortiz said. “Players need to let him do what he thinks is better for the game and stop putting him on the spot and telling him what to do. That’s what I think should happen.”

Ortiz was also asked whether the Red Sox can win without Mookie Betts, who was traded rather than signed to a long-term contract or allowed to leave as a free agent.

“They won without me,” Ortiz said.