Dusty Baker Worried About 'Premeditated Retaliation' Against Astros for Cheating

Dusty Baker is concerned the Astros might experience retaliation from opposing teams following their sign-stealing scandal.

Houston Astros manager Dusty Baker is worried his team might experience retaliation from opposing teams following their sign-stealing scandal.

While speaking with reporters Saturday morning, Baker said he wants MLB to step in and stop any "premeditated retaliation" against Houston.

"I'm depending on the league to try to put a stop to the seemingly premeditated retaliation that I’m hearing about," Baker said. "In most instances in life, you get kind of reprimanded when you have premeditated anything. I'm just hoping that the league puts a stop to this before somebody gets hurt."

Dusty Baker is concerned about “premeditated retaliation” against the Astros. He wants league to step in. pic.twitter.com/GSFaHJhX9d

— Brian McTaggart (@brianmctaggart) February 15, 2020

Baker's comments come after several players around baseball have expressed their anger over the Astros' cheating operation. On Friday, Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger and pitcher Ross Stripling called out the Astros for stealing signs during the 2017 season.

"Everyone knows they stole the ring from us," Bellinger said in reference to the Dodgers' 2017 World Series loss to the Astros.

Stripling was slated to go to the crosstown Angels last week in a deal that fell through. He admitted that he would "lean towards" intentionally hitting an Astros batter if he faced them this season.

"I thought about that if I was going to the Angels because they open in Houston, right," Stripling said, per the Houston Chronicle. "And I was like, 'Oh my gosh.' Ah...That's a good question. Would I do it? I would lean towards yes. In the right time and the right place. Maybe I give up two runs the inning before and I got some anger going. Who knows? But, yeah, it would certainly be on my mind."

Two days ago, during the Astros' public apology, Baker said he wasn't worried about retaliation against his team. When asked Saturday if that changed, the skipper said "not really."

"We don't start nothing. This is the slogan of my teams—we don't start anything,” he told reporters. "Not intentionally. Guys are going to get hit, intentionally or unintentionally. If you say you're going to drill somebody and all of a sudden you drill them, you can't say you weren't trying to hit him. We don't take anything, either."