MESA, Ariz. — Mike Fiers acknowledged Thursday that he has received threats of physical violence since his public comments launched MLB’s investigation into the Astros’ cheating scandal, but he’s not overly concerned.

“Whatever, I don’t care,” he said. “I’ve dealt with a lot of death threats before. It’s just another thing on my plate.”

Fiers also isn’t worried about any backlash from the Astros, saying, “If I’m worried about any retaliation, I’m not going to be ready for the season.”

The A’s and Major League Baseball are aware of threats to Fiers’ safety, and they are taking measures to protect him and his family, particularly when Oakland plays at Houston three times this season. Fiers said although he’s not concerned about his safety, he’s always concerned about his family’s.

One contention among Astros fans is that Fiers was a part of the 2017 World Series team and as a result, he benefited from the team’s use of video technology to steal signs, too. There have been calls for him to return his World Series ring.

Asked if he’s considered doing that, Fiers said he might have once mentioned it as a possibility to A’s teammate Ryan Buchter, but he has no plans to do so now, unless it is required of the rest of the 2017 team.

“I said from the beginning, ‘I’m not away from this. I was part of that team, I was one of those guys,’ ” he said. “Suspensions, fines — I’m willing to take as much punishment as they do. If they ask me to (return the ring), it’s not the end of the world.”

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The Houston pitching staff wasn’t implicated in the scheme by the league’s investigation, but reaped the riches of more run support and greater team success. Fiers said he didn’t consider saying anything to MLB or Astros higher-ups in 2017, just as no one else had.

“I couldn’t tell you why,” he said. “We were all in a weird spot. Everyone was in a weird spot.”

It took moving on to other teams — the Tigers and then the A’s — for him to warn his teammates to be careful about possible sign stealing.

Susan Slusser is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer.

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