BREAKING: Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch have been suspended for one year after an MLB investigation found the team used technology to cheat during its World Series-winning 2017 season, sources familiar with the punishment tell ESPN.
Additionally, MLB will fine the Astros $5 million and take away their first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, sources tell ESPN.
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Just saw that, they got hammered. So are the Red Sox next?
Wow. This kind of punishment may change behavior. Losing 1st and 2nd picks for two years... That will set a team back.
Thank you commish, may I have another!
Deterrence. A good first step. Losing four almost sure MLB players should send a message.
Not only losing the draft picks, but the slot money that they would then be able to "upgrade" their later picks will hurt just as bad.
Jeff Passan is reporting on Twitter that his sources are saying Alex Cora is next and punishment will be "severe".
Wow, indeed.
Astros have fired the GM and manager.
The shoes keep dropping.
The penalties seem about right. Except maybe for this:
"While the scheme to steal signs and relay them to batters by banging on a garbage can was 'player-driven,' MLB commissioner Rob Manfred wrote in a nine-page summary of the investigation, no players were disciplined -- including New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran, who played for the 2017 Astros and was implicated by Manfred as one of the players involved in decoding signs." https://www.espn.com/mlb/story...-fired-sign-stealing
I get that there is a collective bargaining agreement that (probably--I don't know) severely limits the punishments the league can impose on players, but this seems wrong. As an institutional matter, teams now have a real incentive to stop players from engaging in prohibited forms of sign-stealing. But the players themselves have literally zero reason to try to comply with the rules. Maybe the technology required means players won't be able to do this kind of thing without help from, or at least the knowledge of, management... Maybe. But should the players involved in this activity face no penalties at all?
Slap on the wrist. Very disappointing.
22and25 posted:Just saw that, they got hammered. So are the Red Sox next?
I think Cora, not the Red Sox, is next.
Cora's penalty will be from his time with Astros. No proof of Red Sox cheating.
RossGA posted:Slap on the wrist. Very disappointing.
Other than a lifetime ban, what more could Manfred have done? The $5M fine is trivial, but I have read that is the largest the relevant rules allowed.
Luhnow and Hinch may or may not get hired right away by another team next year—that will be interesting. But a one-year ban seems like a hefty penalty. And for the organization to lose its top two picks for two years is going to sting.
hshuler posted:22and25 posted:Just saw that, they got hammered. So are the Red Sox next?
I think Cora, not the Red Sox, is next.
Cora's penalty will be from his time with Astros. No proof of Red Sox cheating.
hshuler, that may be premature (unless you have read something I missed; which is entirely possible). It sure sounds like Cora is going to be penalized--probably for his conduct with the Astros. But I thought the Red Sox investigation was ongoing?
I don't think it's a slap on the wrist. More harsh than I expected. It feels like pretty close to the max penalties allowed
Chico Escuela posted:hshuler posted:22and25 posted:Just saw that, they got hammered. So are the Red Sox next?
I think Cora, not the Red Sox, is next.
Cora's penalty will be from his time with Astros. No proof of Red Sox cheating.
hshuler, that may be premature (unless you have read something I missed; which is entirely possible). It sure sounds like Cora is going to be penalized--probably for his conduct with the Astros. But I thought the Red Sox investigation was ongoing?
I should have said no proof of the Red Sox cheating as of yet.
Wow, this is harsh. I wonder if MLB has determined that this was limited to the Astros (and maybe Red Sox). Could get messy if additional allegations about other clubs start leaking out.
I’m pretty sure the Astros anticipated harsh penalties. I know a few kids who are potential top two round draft prospects and the only team that hasn’t done a home visit with them is the Astros.
Here's something I don't understand: MLB found the Astros stole signs in 2017 and won the World Series. But the cheating was supposedly limited to that year. So, team cheats and wins it all, then decides to stop cheating... because it worked too well the prior year??? That is the part I wonder about--is MLB trying to do damage control by limiting this to a single season?
[Or the year after Cora left, the Astros' cheating stopped, and the Red Sox won the WS. But nobody tried to cheat in 2019. Because it worked too well for two years in a row,]
