"Astros took it way too far ... it's sort of like the PED era" - New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter once drew parallels between Astros cheating scandal and the PED era

New York Yankees legend Derek Jeter once compared the Houston Astros' cheating scandal to the infamous era of steroid use.

Jeter spoke to reporters during his time as the Miami Marlins CEO in 2020, admitting that the Astros scandal had damaged the sport:

"When you talk about people trying to get an edge in baseball, I don't think that's anything new, people have been trying to do that for years but obviously [the Astros] took it way too far. ...

"We're continuing to talk about it, the sport continues to talk about it, so yeah it's sort of like the PED era. That was something that everybody continued to talk about. You never forget it. This is something that's not a good look for the sport but hopefully, in time, it'll pass."

The Astros' cheating scandal began in early 2017. They allegedly used the game feed from the center field camera to decode and relay the signs of opponents to any Astros baserunners on second base.

After an investigation in 2019, the team lost first and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, while also receiving a $5 million fine.

The Astros won their first World Series title in 2017.

Additionally, general manager Jeff Luhnow was suspended without pay in January 2020. While the franchise's 2017 World Series win was not rescinded, many called for the club to be given heavier sanctions.

Derek Jeter once opened up about the steroids era in MLB

In 2009, Derek Jeter spoke to CBS Sports about how steroids had a huge impact on the sport. The former Yankee was disappointed with how every positive performance was judged by the involvement of some wrongdoing:

"I think the biggest message that needs to be out there is everybody wasn’t doing it. I mean, you hear people saying this is a steroid era. There are few players in this era taking steroids. But it wasn’t a steroid era. You have 1,100 people that haven’t done it. Well, I think you have to learn about it.”

Derek Jeter added that he had never taken any PEDs during his career. He cited how his former teammate Alex Rodriguez was banned from the sport, but was disappointed and learned from the incident. Rodriguez was banned for 211 games, which was later reduced to 162 games.