Dodgers' Cody Bellinger Responds to Carlos Correa, Rob Manfred Comments

The war of words between Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Cody Bellinger and Houston Astros shortstop Carlos Correa continued Monday.  

"First time we heard some facts," Bellinger said when asked about Correa's suggestion that he get the full facts surrounding the Astros' sign-stealing scandal before speaking about it, per Pedro Moura of The Athletic. "And some aspects of what happened. So, that'd be nice to get some facts getting out there."

Bellinger was also asked what he thought about Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred describing the World Series trophy as a "piece of metal."

The Dodgers slugger said "that's his opinion" before saying the World Series trophy "means you've completed something that you set out to do your whole life."

Manfred turned heads when he seemed to dismiss the importance of what is ironically known as the Commissioner's Trophy when discussing why he didn't strip the Astros of their 2017 World Series title as part of the punishment for stealing signs.

"The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act," he said, per ESPN. "People will always know that something was different about the 2017 season, and whether we made that decision right or wrong, we undertook a thorough investigation, and had the intestinal fortitude to share the results of that investigation, even when those results were not very pretty."

As for the back-and-forth between Bellinger and Correa, the former told reporters on Friday he "thought Manfred's punishment was weak, giving them immunity. I mean these guys were cheating for three years. I think what people don't realize is Altuve stole an MVP from [Aaron] Judge in '17. Everyone knows they stole the ring from us."

He also said he believed Astros owner Jim Crane's statements when meeting with reporters were "weak."

Crane contradicted himself in a matter of seconds when talking about whether he believed the sign stealing impacted the game:

Correa did not take kindly to Bellinger's comments, opening up to Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic:

"Cody, you don't know the facts. Nobody wants to talk about this, but I'm going to talk about this. Jose Altuve was the one guy that didn't use the trash can. …

"(Bellinger) said that they all lost respect for us. But that's not how life works. ...

"But like I said before, what doesn't sit well with me is when you say false statements. If you don't know the facts. If you're not informed. This is America. You can say whatever you want. But Cody Bellinger's job is to look for information. Get informed. Know the facts, for sure, before he stands in front of cameras to talk about other players. You should get informed. You should be informed before you talk about other players. If you don't know the facts, then you've got to shut the f--k up."

The Astros defeated the Dodgers in a thrilling seven-game series in the 2017 Fall Classic.

Bellinger was a rookie that season, and his team also lost the 2018 World Series to the Boston Red Sox. Boston is under investigation for electronically aided sign stealing, as well.

While there will be no shortage of storylines if the Dodgers and Astros met up in another World Series, comments from Bellinger and Correa will serve as something of a backdrop if that becomes a reality.