MLB Twitter reacts to Los Angeles Dodgers hiring coach who was previously suspended for role in sign-stealing scandal: "What a joke", "Hypocrites"

The Los Angeles Dodgers shone a fresh spotlight on their organization Wednesday, but probably not one they enjoyed.

On recommendations from outfielders J.D. Martinez and Mookie Betts, the Dodgers hired coach J.T. Watkins to help Los Angeles with its hitting game plan.

Watkins, who was serving in the same role while with the Boston Red Sox, was suspended by MLB in 2020 for his involvement in the team's video sign-stealing scandal that bore great familiarity to a similar scandal involving the Houston Astros.

Given that the loudest voices of protest regarding the Astros' sign stealing came from the team that Houston beat in that year's World Series -- the Los Angeles Dodgers -- Watkins being hired by the Dodgers is too delicious of an irony for MLB fans to ignore.

Any baseball fan not wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers cap had a good time with the Watkins news. It's been a long winter, and baseball fans are looking to talk about something in early January. The Watkins-to-Los Angeles news certainly stoked the hot stove.

Of course, the Los Angeles Dodgers are still dealing with the fallout from a 2022 season in which they won an MLB-best 111 regular-season games -- five more than the World Series champion Astros -- but fell to the San Diego Padres in the National League Division Series. The Padres entered the playoffs 22 games behind the Dodgers in the National League West standings.

The cold and snow of the MLB offseason does have some fans working on their conspiracy theories as they sit around the bonfire.

Los Angeles Dodgers looking to make the most of hitting

Mookie Betts #50 of the Los Angeles Dodgers reacts after striking out

One of the most storied of all the major league franchises, the Dodgers have been stuck in a pattern they'll likely try to avoid in the future.

For 10 consecutive seasons, the Dodgers have made the playoffs. In that time, however, Los Angeles has won one World Series, besting the Tampa Bay Rays in six games in 2020.

In that time, the Dodgers have lost two World Series in back-to-back fashion. Los Angeles followed up the 2017 loss to Houston by falling in 2018 to the Red Sox -- both teams that were implicated in separate sign-stealing scandals.

As the old saying goes, "If you can't beat 'em, join 'em." Maybe Watkins' "skills" are exactly what the Dodgers need to get them over the hump. What do you think?