SI senior writer Tom Verducci shares his thoughts on the Astros' precipitous fall resulting from the sign-stealing scandal from their 2017 World Series championship year. Now, the Astros consequences are officially in play with this year's draft coming. Verducci explains why these ramifications are revealing the cracks that are beginning to form in the organization. 

Remember the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal? Well the pandemic certainly has muted most of the discourse about what was the hottest controversy in baseball in the offseason. But this week, the sign-stealing scandal is back in the news and we see some of the first ramifications of the penalty assessed to the Astros. By losing their first and second round draft picks, the Houston Astros do not have a selection in this week's draft until pick number 72. And that's for compensation for losing free agent Gerrit Cole to the Yankees. 

The Astros have just four picks and they have just $2.2 million dollars to spend on draft picks. Easily the least amount of money in this draft. And this comes at a time when Houston needs to reestablish their farm system. Now, it's been productive, but most of their best players have been graduated to the big leagues or traded. Houston entered this season, according to MLB.com ranked number 28 out of 30 teams in farm systems. The effects of the scandal now are just beginning to be felt.