Houston Astros: Baseball Cheating Sign Stealing Scandal (2020)

[+ WilliamM]

ESPN

 

Why anger is boiling behind the scenes about Houston Astros' sign-stealing punishments

 

 

 

 

 

 

The kneecapping of the Houston Astros went off Monday in exquisite fashion. Big names were fired. Draft picks were revoked. A record fine was levied. Pounds of flesh were exacted from egregious cheaters. The optics worked. The Astros' comeuppance was here, and it was severe. Major League Baseball was righting an obvious wrong.

 

As the day rolled on and people around baseball pondered exactly what had happened, a less obvious version of the story emerged. It was all so tidy, all so clean, so carefully orchestrated and meticulously calibrated -- like something the Astros, ever lauded for their efficiency and ruthlessness, might concoct.

 

 

 

Gone were general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, first suspended by the league for a year, then fired by owner Jim Crane, even as MLB's investigation into Houston's sign-stealing scheme determined it was "player-driven." Gone too were their first- and second-round draft picks for 2020 and 2021, painful but not crippling. And that record fine? All of $5 million, couch-cushion change for every owner in baseball -- and the most commissioner Rob Manfred can levy under the MLB constitution, which speaks to the limitations of the position.

 

It is a job of extreme compromise, of politicking, of figuring out how to appease the 30 billionaires who are his bosses, and Manfred's handling of the cheating scandal -- the biggest of his commissionership so far and one that cut to the heart of the game's integrity -- offered remarkable insight into how he runs the sport. As much as MLB played the big, bad monolith in delivering the ruinous news from on high, this was not some unilateral punishment for the Astros. It was a sneak peek inside the sausage factory of power and the anger that Crane's relative acquittal caused across the league.

 

• MLB hits Astros with huge penalties, Houston fires Hinch, Luhnow: Answering all the questions
  
• The five biggest victims of the Astros' sign-stealing scandal
  
• Players react as MLB punishes Astros for sign stealing
  
• 
  

Multiple ownership-level sources told ESPN that dissatisfaction with the penalties had emerged following a conference call with Manfred, in which he explained how the Astros would be disciplined, then told teams to keep their thoughts to themselves.

 

"The impression," one person familiar with the call told ESPN, "was that the penalty for complaining would be more than Houston got."

The concern over any possible discipline for breaking ranks didn't entirely silence teams. At 12:30 a.m. ET on Tuesday, the Los Angeles Dodgers, who lost the 2017 World Series in seven games to an Astros team that MLB's investigation confirmed cheated during that postseason, released a statement that read: "All clubs have been asked by Major League Baseball not to comment on today's punishment of the Houston Astros as it's inappropriate to comment on discipline imposed on another club. The Dodgers have also been asked not to comment on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series and will have no further comment at this time."

 

Run through a passive-aggressive translator, the Dodgers' words mirrored what a team president had said earlier in the day.

"Crane won," he said. "The entire thing was programmed to protect the future of the franchise. He got his championship. He keeps his team. His fine is nothing. The sport lost, but Crane won."

 

 

On a day when a well-regarded manager and a successful executive lost their jobs and the 1919 Black Sox were invoked as comparables, it was easy to miss how MLB soft-pedaled Crane's punishment. In the first paragraph of Manfred's nine-page statement outlining the league's investigation, he addressed the original report by The Athletic that spurred the controversy. How there was "significant concern" that what the Astros were alleged to have done violated "the principles of sportsmanship and fair competition" and how he treats such threats to the game with "the utmost seriousness." He continued: "I believe in transparency." And then, after that on-point thesis, came two completely out-of-place sentences.

 

"At the outset," Manfred wrote, "I also can say our investigation revealed absolutely no evidence that Jim Crane, the owner of the Astros, was aware of any of the conduct described in this report. Crane is extraordinarily troubled and upset by the conduct of members of his organization, fully supported my investigation, and provided unfettered access to any and all information requested."

 

The absolution of Crane so early in the document came as no surprise. Crane said he saw details of the league's punishment over the weekend. It allowed him to introduce himself as a do-something organizational shepherd. He announced the firings of Luhnow and Hinch on live TV, generating maximum effect. He promised "the Astros will become stronger -- a stronger organization because of this today." Months of misery -- beginning with former assistant GM Brandon Taubman's post-ALCS outburst at three female reporters that led to his firing, continuing with the revelation of cheating and culminating in this -- had made it fairly evident that for all of the strength Crane tries to project, fundamental weaknesses exist throughout the Astros organization.

Much of Manfred's document was incriminatory, particularly the details of the scheme as laid out by MLB investigators and a section in which the commissioner referred to the Astros' organizational culture as "problematic" and blamed it on "an environment that allowed the conduct described in this report to have occurred." The words were necessary and important -- and entirely dismissed by Crane, who said: "I don't agree with that."

"Did you notice," another team president said, "he never said 'Sorry'?"

 

 

 

For Crane to offer anything beyond the hollow and perfunctory would have been an upset. While MLB's standard for the punishment was reasonable and rational -- the league targeted violations after the Sept. 15, 2017, memo Manfred distributed that said violations of the league's technology policy would fall on teams' general manager and manager -- Crane said he fired them because "(n)either one of them started this, but neither one of them did anything about it."

The same, of course, could be said of him. Either Crane did not know that the business he owns and operates was cheating or he did know and did nothing about it. Neither is good.

 

None of this, actually, is good. Baseball is far from done with sign-stealing scandals. The league has launched an investigation into the Boston Red Sox after The Athletic reported they used a video replay room to decode signs in their championship-winning 2018 season. Boston manager Alex Cora was previously the bench coach for the 2017 Astros and was implicated by Manfred's report as a central figure in Houston's adoption of a system in which players used an illegal camera feed to crack sign sequences and feed pitch types live to hitters via banging a baseball bat against a trash can. Between the evidence incriminating Cora and Hinch's firing paving the way for managerial dismissals, the end of Cora's time in Boston could be coming, two sources with knowledge of the team's thinking told ESPN.

 

If Hinch and Cora are both out, the onus then shifts to the New York Mets and Carlos Beltran, who must decide whether they want to be the only team standing by a manager whose name shows up in a report that details rampant cheating. Manfred's report named Beltran as one of the players involved in the scheme, though the league did not discipline him because it gave players immunity in exchange for their testimony.

 

That choice registered publicly as another curious part of Manfred's ultimate decision. What sort of disciplinary action clears players for a "player-driven" scheme? The answer is a practical one. Between the well-defined lines that held GMs and managers responsible and the fear of the Major League Baseball Players Association defending any discipline against active players and sending the cases into grievance hell, Manfred's pragmatism here, though not satisfying, is understandable.

 

 

 

 

Whatever the answer, the remaining two mentions of Crane in Manfred's report do yeoman's work of clearing him. The first said it was "difficult to question" Crane giving Luhnow responsibility of baseball operations. The second stated, as fact, that Crane "was unaware of any of the violations of MLB rules by his club." And that was it. A thorough and impressive whitewashing. Tidy, clean, carefully orchestrated, meticulously calibrated. The Houston Astros, same as they ever were.

[+ WilliamM]

The Astros General Manager, Jeff Luwnow, was somewhat controversial when he worked for the St. Louis Cardinals on advanced data collection, or equivalent name.

[+ deej]

The same, of course, could be said of him. Either Crane did not know that the business he owns and operates was cheating or he did know and did nothing about it. Neither is good.

Most owners in MLB are only marginally, if at all, involved in baseball operations. (Well, except the Yankees.)

 

I know that with the Cubs, the owners have said their only role is writing checks.

[+ deej]

The Astros General Manager, Jeff Luwnow, was somewhat controversial when he worked for the St. Louis Cardinals on advanced data collection, or equivalent name.

Yeah, that equivalent name was "hacking other teams" , for which the Cardinals were fined.

[+ WilliamM]

Yeah, that equivalent name was "hacking other teams" , for which the Cardinals were fined.

 

But, Luhnow was not the St. Luis Cardinal general manager. Yet he had reputation of arrogance in St. Louis as well.

[samhexum]

Why anger is boiling behind the scenes about Houston Astros' sign-stealing punishments

 

FAMILY GUY took a jab at the Astros tonight.

 

The Griffins – Peter, Lois, Meg and Stewie – are watching TV from the couch when the Astros dig begins.

 

“ESPN now returns to our 30 for 30 documentary on the Houston Astros cheating scandal,” a narrator from the TV says.

 

The show cuts to a former player being interviewed inside the Baseball Hall of Fame. The former player says, “We knew the Astros were stealing signals. Someone was back there banging on a trash can, we just couldn’t figure out who.”

 

Then, a team picture of the Astros flashes on the screen with Oscar the Grouch sitting in his trash can with an Astros cap on the trash can lid right there in the middle of the team photo.

 

The narrator continues, “Several players were interviewed by the league, but none would reveal the mastermind of this garbage can scheme.”

 

The show's Twitter account even posted the clip and made sure the Astros saw it by tagging the club and tweeting, "Hey @Astros, how much you payin' Oscar the Grouch?"

 

 

 

Most owners in MLB are only marginally, if at all, involved in baseball operations. (Well, except the Yankees.)

 

I know that with the Cubs, the owners have said their only role is writing checks.

 

That's about all Hal Steinbrenner does, besides setting the budget each season. Or didn't you hear George died a long time ago?

 

Arte Moreno of the Angels is the most notorious buttinsky among owners now... he's the one who decided on his own to offer that brilliant Pujols contract, and I believe he was also behind the equally-successful trade to acquire Josh 'Size-17 feet' Hamilton.

 

Peter Angelos didn't allow the Orioles front office to scout and draft talent from Latin America for years.

 

Jerry Reinsdorf just personally made the decision to hire his friend, 76-year-old Tony LaRussa, to manage the up-and-coming Chisox.

 

And, of course, the Wilpons are gone and best forgotten.

 

How to handle owner Arte Moreno? Three tips for new Los Angeles Angels GM Perry Minasian

Buster Olney ESPN Senior Writer

 

It's Arte Moreno's prerogative, as owner of the Los Angeles Angels, to jump into his team's baseball operations decisions anytime he chooses. He amassed the fortune necessary to buy the franchise, and it's his money that funds the paychecks of Mike Trout, manager Joe Maddon and new general manager Perry Minasian. To say that baseball owners at least occasionally get involved in the business of roster-building is basically redundant.

 

But even by that loose industry standard, Moreno has a reputation for being a tough boss, for sometimes being the wrench in the decision-making, executing some deals himself (the signing of Albert Pujols, for example) and calling off others (like when he nixed the deal for the Dodgers' Joc Pederson last winter). It'll be up to Minasian to get his work done within Arte's universe...

 

https://www.espn.com/mlb/insider/story/_/id/30450338/how-handle-owner-arte-moreno-three-tips-new-los-angeles-angels-gm-perry-minasian

Edited December 7, 2020 by samhexum

[+ WilliamM]

Brilliant for Albert P and his agent.

 

And for the Cardinals

[samhexum]

Astros manager Dusty Baker losing patience after fans’ trash-can stunt

By Jeremy Layton

 

The Astros are playing in front of fans this season for the first time since their sign-stealing scandal came to light, and as everyone expected, they’ve been showered with boos by rival fans at every turn.

 

On Monday night, Angels fans took the showering to a new level. At the end of the sixth inning, fans heaved an inflatable garbage can over the right field wall, a glaring jab at the team, who infamously banged on trash cans to signal the pitches that were coming. When Altuve was at bat not long after, areal trash can was hurled over the same wall, and bottles spilled out of it.

 

After the game, a 7-6 loss, manager Dusty Baker was upset with the antics.

 

“You can tell the amount of hostility and the amount of hatred in the stands,” Baker said. “How many in the stands have never done anything wrong in their life? We paid the price for it. How many people have not cheated on a test or whatever at some point in time. I mean it’s easy if you live in glass houses, but I don’t think anybody lives in glass houses.

 

“I think that sometimes we need to look at ourselves before you spew hate on somebody else. It’s a sad situation for America, to me, when you hear things – I mean what are the kids supposed to think in the stands? And some of them are kids that are following their parents. It’s sad to me. People make mistakes. We paid for ours, and I wish they’d leave it alone.”

 

To be fair, they really didn’t pay for the mistake at all. Manager A.J. Hinch was fired, but none of the players received even a single game of suspension. The team made it back to the ALCS in the first year after the scandal was revealed. They even got to escape the boos and wrath of fans for a full year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Either way, the team can complain all it wants, but there’s no way the jeers are going to stop anytime soon.