Advertisement

Carlos Correa takes aim at Astros haters after playoff win: 'What are they going to say now?'

The Houston Astros are feeling a little cocky after advancing to the next round of the playoffs. After defeating the Minnesota Twins to advance past the wild-card series, Astros shortstop Carlos Correa took a moment to dunk on the team’s biggest critics.

Correa specifically called out fans who have given the Astros a hard time about the sign-stealing scandal, asking, “What are they going to say now?”

That’s unlikely to go over well with those critics. First off, it doesn’t exactly erase the fact that the Astros cheated during their World Series winning 2017 season. Second, Correa’s statement doesn’t really prove much. They won two games and advanced to the second round of an extended postseason after finishing the regular season two games under .500. That’s good for the Astros, but it’s not exactly the most impressive feat. If they win the World Series again, Correa’s comments would carry far more weight.

Will Astros shut up their biggest haters?

While the Astros disappointed in 2020, the team still has an incredible amount of talent. Jose Altuve, Michael Brantly, Alex Bregman, Correa, George Springer and Kyle Tucker still make up an excellent hitting core. The rotation has questions behind Zack Greinke, though posted the 13th best ERA in baseball during the regular season. The bullpen has questions, but still managed to rank exactly middle of the pack in ERA.

All of this is to say, the Astros can definitely win the 2020 World Series with the collection of talent on the roster. They would need to pull off an upset or two, but there’s a realistic possibility they put it all together at the right time. If it happens, people will be mad, but the Astros will have proved they can win without cheating (we think, at least).

For now, though, feel free to rip Correa and the Astros as much as you want. Getting to the second round of the postseason isn’t that awesome. If the Astros lose here, everyone will rightly criticize Correa’s premature smack talk.

If the Astros continue to play well and advance, however, some fans will bite their tongue and hope 2020 doesn’t continue to be miserable by giving us an Astros redemption season.

More from Yahoo Sports: