MLB commissioner Rob Manfred spoke to the media Tuesday and addressed some additional questions surrounding the Astros' cheating scandal. One topic in particular touched on the safety of Mike Fiers.
The A's pitcher was at the base of bringing the Astros' sign-stealing to surface by going on the record in a November interview with The Athletic.
After exposing Houston, Fiers received scrutiny, mainly from Astros fans. Manfred, who appeared to be aware of what the pitcher had been enduring, wanted to make sure he was working toward a plan for his safety.
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But Fiers isn't sure how they would be able to protect him, he told The Athletic's Alex Coffey on Wednesday.
“I’m not asking for extra security," Fiers said in the interview. "I’m here to play baseball and I can defend myself, if anything. We do have National League games, and I’m going to have to get into the box (to hit) just like everybody else. It’s part of the game. If they decide to throw at me, then they throw at me. There’s nothing much you can do about it.”
The A's will host the Astros during their second series of the season at the Coliseum in Oakland, beginning on March 30.
It'll be tense.
Oakland Athletics
The A's will head to Houston not soon after that at the end of April and then another time in May and in July. All eyes will be on Fiers, whether he's on the bump at Minute Maid Park or not.
He knows the attention will be on him.
"Listen … everyone’s mad at (the Astros)," he said. "There are teams that are mad. It doesn’t matter what it is, extra protection, I mean, what are you going to do? There’s not much you can do.”
He's doing his best to concentrate on doing his job as a pitcher in a highly-anticipated season for the A's, but it's not that easy. Teammates have shown him what's being said on social media, which surely makes him uncomfortable. Since he addressed the media at the end of January during media day, he stressed the fact he didn't want to distract his teammates.
[RELATED: Fiers feels 'ahead of schedule' despite distractions]
Those teammates, and manager Bob Melvin, stood right by him as more and more information spilled out on the scandal.
He knows there will be repercussions, we all do. But those shouldn't start, or end, with him.