Astros Reportedly Furious With MLB Over Abreu Suspension

Some within the Houston Astros organization are furious with Major League Baseball over Bryan Abreu's suspension that could keep him out of Game 7 of the ALCS and Game 1 of the World Series.

The Houston Astros are preparing for Game 7 of the American League Championship Series against the Texas Rangers on Monday.

After winning three games on the road to take a 3-2 series lead, they once again lost at home to set up this winner-take-all scenario.

As the Astros get ready for Game 7, they'll seemingly be doing so without their star reliever, who is appealing his suspension.

Bryan Abreu was ejected in Game 5 for hitting Adolis Garcia. He was then suspended two games by the MLB.

His appeal will be heard on Monday and a decision will be known by first pitch if Abreu's suspension will be upheld, reduced or overturned.

Still, according to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic, members in Houston's organization are furious with the MLB over this suspension and the circumstances surrounding it.

"For starters, they find the notion that Abreu threw at García intentionally in Game 5 to be absurd ... The ejection of Abreu from a postseason game and his subsequent suspension are not the only reasons the Astros are upset. Multiple players believe García also should have received a suspension for making contact with Astros catcher Martin Maldonado and for acting, in the words of crew chief James Hoye, as “the aggressor” in an incident that emptied both the benches and bullpens, but did not lead to an outright brawl," Rosenthal reported in his story.

The reliever maintains that he did not hit Garcia on purpose. The Astros state that it was a close game and hitting someone intentionally would have put them at a disadvantage as they only trailed by two runs.

Rosenthal also dropped another bombshell, citing that Houston thinks there's favoritism at play.

"Some with the Astros suspect the league also is showing favoritism toward the Rangers because their general manager, Chris Young, worked for the league from May 2018 to Dec. 2020. Young, a former major-league pitcher, rose to senior vice president, replacing Joe Torre as the official who decided suspensions and fines for on-field matters, such as intentionally hitting batters," he writes.

Both the MLB and Young declined to comment about this allegation according to Rosenthal.

The appeal is likely to be upheld considering past precedent that will be used in this case, forcing the Astros to navigate Game 7 without their second-best reliever.