Giancarlo Stanton: "If I Knew What Was Coming in ‘17, I Would Have Hit 80-Plus Home Runs"

TAMPA, Fla. – Giancarlo Stanton is the latest member of the Yankees to comment on the Astros' sign-stealing scandal. Similar to his teammates before him, he held nothing back.

While standing at his locker Wednesday morning, Stanton revealed his feelings on the controversy, explaining he's lost respect for the entire Astros organization and that he believes Houston should be stripped of their 2017 World Series title.

"[Major League Baseball] did their investigation and it was clean cut that they cheated that year which means it should be taken away," Stanton said. "I mean, if you cheat in another way during the season, you can't even be in the playoffs so therefore would be eliminated. So it's pretty much the same, same difference."

The slugger didn't stop there.

In response to Astros' owner Jim Crane's controversial comments on sign stealing having no impact on the game, Stanton explained just how much better he would be if he knew which pitches were being thrown.

"If I knew what was coming in '17, I probably would've hit 80-plus home runs," Stanton said.

Judge, Andújar and Stanton fielding some ground balls in right field.

Again, no BP for Judge today because of his shoulder but everything looks good as of now #Yankees pic.twitter.com/UgiGiLokBr
— Max Goodman (@MaxTGoodman) February 18, 2020

In 2017 – his final season with the Miami Marlins – Stanton famously belted 59 long balls en route to winning the National League MVP Award. This past year, the 30-year-old appeared in just 18 games after two separate injuries sidelined him on the injured list for the majority of the season.

Aaron Judge and Gleyber Torres are among the Yankees to have spoken out on this topic, confirming they believe Houston was still cheating during the 2019 season as well.

Stanton agreed.

"I don't think you really stop until you get caught or something like that," he said. "So my personal view would be no."

READ: Gleyber Torres believes Astros continued to steal signs in 2019

Overall, the slugger's biggest problem with the scandal is the way everything has been handled, by both the Astros organization and the Commissioner.

"I don't think the penalties were harsh enough player-wise," Stanton explained. "I think that at the end of the day, it gives more incentive to do that if you're not going to punish the players that took part in it."

The slugger is poised for a resurgent year in 2020 if he can stay healthy. Now that teams will experience new regulations on video room usage, after Houston abused those privileges across the past three years, Stanton said his in-game routine will change.

"That's what you like to do," he said, speaking on behalf of his teammates. "Which a lot of us like to do. Sometimes the game is so fast you need to go and 'let me make sure that pitches were I thought it was.' So it will mess with in-game routine."

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