GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch have been suspended for one season after an MLB investigation found the team used technology to cheat during its World Series-winning 2017 season, it was announced Monday. Additionally, MLB will fine the Astros $5 million and take away their first- and second-round draft picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts. MLB said in its statement that if Luhnow or Hinch "engage in any future material violations" of MLB rules, they will be placed on the league's permanently ineligible list. Astros' Luhnow, Hinch suspended for 1 season
That is a big time hit for the Astros, I don't know where they go for a 1 year manager and GM. The fine they can absorb, and the draft picks while significant aren't a big time killer. But having an interim manager and GM is very disrupting for the team/organization. I'll be interested in hearing the Astros response, esp what AJ Hinch has to say if anything. I wonder if the Astros can appeal?
The firing takes those suspensions and basically turns them into bans.. No one is going to hire a GM or a manager that comes with a 1 year ban before they can take the job. I was thinking Crane did the right thing after the firings, but I don't anticipate any phone calls of apology. He already came out and said their title 'wasn't tainted' which is pure crap, but whatever. The Sox are going to have to fire Cora because he's going to get AT LEAST what AJ got. I can't believe MLB is actually taking a 'stand' against anything, although they did leave some wiggle room for moving on, moving past and forgetting all of this.
Considering that the entire team was involved and how quickly rosters turn over with free agency, did the GM and Hinch really think what they were doing would never see the light of day? I imagine Oakland will keep Mike Fiers home when they visit Houston. Otherwise, the Astros might sponsor a ‘Bring Your Shotgun to the Park’ night for fans.
The ultimate criminal in this story is Alex Cora. He created the system when he was an assistant coach with the Astros. He then developed an even more sophisticated system with the Red Sox, involving Apple watches and laptops. Luhnow has put the finger directly on Cora as well as Carlos Beltran. I don't want apologies. All of them should be banned for life like Shoelace Joe and their stolen championships should be returned to the Dodgers.
Some players should be banned too. The precedent was set with the Black Sox. All those who knew about the cheating in advance should be banned.
Now i don't really know much about Tim Flannery, but went on this rant on his Facebook Feed about stealing signs. Doesn't excuse the Astros/RedSox but I found it funny. Corey will love this no doubt. September 17, 2017 · They are fining teams who try to steal signs ...hahahaha..got out just in time . Ok...I feel a need to speak out, normal is changing, and today's norm is not the norm. For 26 years I was in the big leagues , 10 as a player, 16 as a 3rd base coach , 20 if you count the other years learning the craft in the minor leagues , from Boise , to Wichita. The seriousness of the writer, the expertise from the front office man, the commissioner, to those who have never lived it. Here it is...I have 25 World Series games under my belt, 7 elimination games, and a 7th game of a World Series. 5 World Series ,3 World Championships I know it don't mean much to those in front of a computer, with the answers and all the rules. So I'm gonna make a long story short. I had a video camera on every 3rd base coach every single night, I spent hours logging tapes trying to steal your signs and finding a way to beat you. You as well did it, in New York I knew the Valentine Mets did it, I knew the Cubs did it, I knew the Dbacks, St. Louis did it, I caught them, that's when the fun begins , you **** em up by changing signs, you tell the boys " if I put a hit and run on first pitch don't do anything, they will pitch out and now they don't have the signs, and you're in a hitters count" the list goes on and on.....if you aren't smart enough ( and believe me this isn't rocket science, it's being somewhat aware) it's your fault, now the game is turned into no breaking up double plays , don't slide hard at home, don't block the plate.if you are not creative enough to derail them, you've stopped thinking. As far as some of the greatest baseball writers who I love, read and listen to, and hang with. You are so off on the sign stuff. It's a high stakes poker game, big money especially as coaches . If you get caught , if your signs are stolen and you don't know in the moment they are close, they are on you...your not thinking, and now because of that the commissioner comes in not understanding, the writers write stealing signs is wrong. We had an advance scout that could watch your 3rd base coach for 3 days and be real close to getting his signs. He would send his report and I would watch you, or have a camera on you, if you haven't played , you don't understand how important this part of the game should be. You don't understand I would not only try and steal your hit and run sign, I would put our hit and run on that my guys knew, then in the same sequence put the other teams hit and run on so when they look at their cameras that we all used to steal the signs they would see and in their minds " **** they have the same sign for hit and run we have". It's propaganda war fare, its trying to beat you......so why you claim people aren't watching baseball because it takes to long, I say your taking the smarts out of it. ...I tried every night for 16 years to steal your signs either writing every thing you did down, or by looking at tapes because I had a camera on you, just like you had on me. Please leave the game alone, and every writer who wrote articles on this..be in church Sunday,because I know for a fact everyone of you looked at body language , vibe, and found a way to snake another writer to get the feature, get the win., leaving it with no creativity, no thinking, and the dumbing down of the greatest game ever......not that I know anything about it....Peace Tim Flannery.
I don't know Logan Morrison either but he says the Dodgers and the Yankees are sign stealers as well!! On his personal Instagram early Monday afternoon, former Seattle Mariners first baseman Logan Morrison sent out a controversial message that is starting to gain traction in the baseball world. In his two posts, Morrison claims that the Houston Astros’ history of sign-stealing dates back to before A.J. Hinch and Alex Cora’s (whom Morrison mistakes for Cora’s brother, Joey) time in Houston, and goes on to cite that, in addition to the Astros, he has “firsthand” knowledge that the Boston Red Sox, Los Angeles Dodgers, and New York Yankees are all guilty of using similar avenues to their advantage. Former Mariners first baseman Logan Morrison claims Astros’ cheating dates back to 2014
Sorry, Timmy. I don't buy your "It's OK because everybody's doing it" misguided rationale. You and all the other yokels who stole - and are stealing - signs are a discredit to the game. MLB has set a welcomed precedent with the punishment meted out to Houston. It needs to be consistent in investigating all credible accusations and leveling appropriate punishment for anyone found guilty of this unfortunate activity. It can start by determining the credibility of Morrison's public accusations.
Sign stealing used to piss me off. That was, until I ran into a situation in which everyone was stealing signs and using their parks/technology to their benefit to do it, so I began preparations in the next season to develop a sign system that simply can't be stolen because 1. It's too complex, 2. It's so simple that you think you can do it and 3. I can change the entire sign system with a whistle or a gesture. It wound up working to my advantage. If you wasted time and resources trying to steal my signs, you were wasting time preparing your team or making in-game adjustments that you should have been doing all along. The best thing you can ever do is simply play me straight up. That way, you're actually coaching your team and not wasting your time on me. If I suspect you're wasting your time on me, I will drag you down a rabbit hole from which you'll never return. Now, with that being said, given the technology of today, I can see a need to clean up the system. At the same time, with a bit of effort, you can take sign stealing teams on a Navajo talker journey into the abyss and it's fun. But, whatever works for you I guess. No one is paying me to coach these days for some reason.