BRADENTON, Fla.

Jameson Taillon held court with reporters Wednesday inside the clubhouse at Pirate City about MLB commissioner Rob Manfred’s handling of the Houston Astros’ cheating scheme that led to a World Series championship.

Joe Musgrove stood in silence at the next locker.

It was indicative of how tricky the topic this spring training is for the Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers who share a common bond as 6-foot-5 right-handers who bring a unique perspective to baseball’s biggest scandal. A Houston native who grew up an Astros fan, Taillon hates the thought of his hometown team systematically stealing signs. Musgrove was a member of the Astros’ 2017 World Series champions, winning Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers.

It’s an uncomfortable conversation, one the Pirates attempt to avoid but the rest of baseball won’t stop debating.

“We don’t talk about it, but it’s kind of hard to escape,” Musgrove said. “It’s all over the media. Every day, it’s a new story, something different.”

It’s a story Manfred has completely mishandled, giving Astros players immunity, dismissing the championship trophy as “a piece of metal” and promising punishment for pitchers who retaliate by throwing at Houston batters. He has lost all credibility as the overseer of the sport. When NBA superstar LeBron James tweeted about it Tuesday, admonishing Manfred and calling on the commissioner to “fix this for the sake of Sports,” it was only natural we would ask the Pirates’ MLB Players Association rep about it.

That’s Taillon.

When the conversation shifted to talk of a tainted title, Taillon felt for his friend. Musgrove pitched in relief in the 10th inning of a tied Game 5 against the Los Angeles Dodgers, earning a victory he wears on his vanity plate.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review Pirates pitcher Jameson Taillon works out with Joe Musgrove at Pirate City in Bradenton.  

“That World Series was so special to Joe,” Taillon said. “It’s a part of his life going forward. He had huge moments in that World Series and that playoffs. He was a young guy that got to pitch in a World Series. I don’t think it’s fair to him to take anything away from what he did and was able to accomplish. It sucks that the ‘tainted’ word has to go with these guys for the rest of their lives who probably had no say or do with what was going on.”

That made me wonder how Musgrove is handling it. Acquired by the Pirates in the Gerrit Cole trade in January 2018, Musgrove appreciates that he doesn’t have to deal with the circus. He is taunted on Twitter by fans who call him a cheater, and hears worse stories from friends like Astros pitcher Lance McCullers and third baseman Alex Bregman.

“By no means am I trying to run away from it. I was part of that team, and I’m not trying to exclude myself from any of the wrath that they’ve had,” Musgrove said. “I feel like part of me is living through it with them.”

Musgrove knows the Astros can’t escape that word: Tainted. There’s nothing as damning as having a black mark on your resume, an asterisk next to your greatest accomplishment.

“Everyone has to come to their own conclusions as to whether it’s tainted or not,” Musgrove said. “If you ask around the league, every one of them would say, ‘They didn’t earn it.’ ”

As a pitcher, that’s hard for Musgrove to swallow. He made seven relief appearances, allowing six runs on six hits — including three homers — while striking out three in 62⁄3 innings against the Boston Red Sox in the ALDS, New York Yankees in the ALCS and Dodgers in the World Series.

Christopher Horner | Tribune-Review Pirates pitcher Joe Musgrove (left) throws next to Jameson Taillon during a workout at Pirate City in Bradenton.  

“I felt there was a lot of times in that series that I gave up big homers and a lot of times I got big outs that were needed,” Musgrove said. “We did that on our own. We didn’t get any help. You’ve got to make your pitch. You’ve got to get your outs. So there’s a lot of big memories for me, moments with my family and those teammates. But looking at it, it’s hard not to say that it’s tainted. We didn’t follow the rules, and we cheated to an extent.”

To what extent the Astros cheated and how much MLB overlooked it is the raging debate. Musgrove believes he earned every out but wonders whether the Astros benefited from bigger leads because of the sign stealing.

“Part of it sucks, but at the same time I was there and saw what was happening,” Musgrove said. “At the time, I didn’t feel like I was in a position to do anything about it — but I also didn’t do anything about it, so it’s hard to say that my part in it was clean. …

“That’s something I’m going to have to live with forever. Looking back, if this is the only World Series I end winning in my career, it’s going to be hard to bring that up and be proud of it. That’s the biggest thing surrounding it, that it was a cheating scandal.”

Amid a cheating scandal that he can’t escape — not even in Pirate City — and a tainted title that can’t be erased, Musgrove must endure the wrath of staying silent as his team committed baseball’s biggest cheating scandal.

Now, it’s best to suffer in silence.

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