Astros Cheating

[z - El Guapo - retired]

From MLBTradeRumors:

The Astros’ Apologies Did Little To Repair Their Image

By Steve Adams | February 14, 2020 at 3:12pm CDT

Shortly after Astros owner Jim Crane, new manager Dusty Baker and players Alex Bregman and Jose Altuve addressed the media in a press conference regarding their sign-stealing scandal yesterday, the clubhouse was opened up for the entire roster to offer comments on the ordeal. Their comments created quite the contrast with those still emerging from others around the league.

George Springer, Josh Reddick, Bregman, Altuve and Yuli Gurriel were among the many Astros players to express varying levels of contrition. Most spoke in general terms, though, and the key phrases throughout left many of the sentiments feeling more rehearsed than genuine. Springer, Bregman and Verlander repeatedly referenced the “remorse” felt by the team, while virtually everyone interviewed spoke of the need to “move forward.”

Asked if he understood the anger that’s been expressed by players from other teams, Reddick stated: “At a point, you kind of see where it’s coming from, but you really don’t know how everybody feels about it.” Indeed we don’t have exhaustive knowledge of the views of all the league’s players, but that characterization still seems at odds with the prevailing sentiment we’re seeing early in camp. There has been an unprecedented public backlash from players and members of other organizations. (More on that below.)

The typically outspoken Verlander favored brevity Thursday, telling reporters, “I wish I’d said more” but sidestepping the question of what, if anything, he actually did say at the time: “That’s between myself and my teammates.” Both Verlander and Reddick declined to comment on how they’d have felt to be on the opposite side of the scheme.

Shortstop Carlos Correa perhaps offered the most forthcoming and reflective comments, plainly acknowledging that the sign-stealing operation gave Astros hitters an advantage. Correa also admitted that the Astros had their infamous trash-can setup in place during the World Series “if we had a chance” but added that the noise level at Minute Maid Park and the Dodgers’ usage of multiple signs rendered the system difficult to use.

Correa further denounced a recent report that Carlos Beltran spearheaded the outfit while younger players were reluctant to stand up to the veteran, emphasizing that the blame shouldn’t rest on any one player but rather the group as a whole.

“We all had a say in everything that we were doing in there,” said Correa. “We had the chance to stop it as a team. Everybody — everybody — had the chance to say something, and we didn’t.” Gurriel and Bregman offered similar sentiments regarding Beltran and the culpability of the entire team.

Astros players, like Crane, were unified in suggesting that the cheating scandal shouldn’t tarnish their World Series title from the 2017 season.

Asked if the Astros would’ve won the World Series without cheating, Springer replied, “I believe so. I believe in our team.” Lance McCullers Jr. spoke about the “great baseball” the Astros needed to play as a team to win the World Series and praised Houston’s “great pitching” against the Dodgers. Reddick, a former Dodger himself, said he “[doesn’t] feel like we should” have to reach out to any members of the Dodgers, Yankees or other teams they toppled en route to their 2017 championship. Even Correa, despite acknowledging that the trash-can system was set up, wouldn’t agree that the team’s title was tainted, citing the “special group” Houston had in 2017.

Looking beyond the Astros’ spring complex, former Houston lefty Dallas Keuchel, now of the White Sox, told reporters: “We’re always going to be World Series champs, because we were talented … To me, we earned the right to be World Series champs.” J.D. Davis struck a different chord, telling Mets reporters today that he is “ashamed” to have participated in the system. “Whoever gets crowned World Series champion has to earn it,” said Davis. “It’s unfair to the peers, it’s unfair to the fans, it’s unfair to you guys, the writers, as well. It’s terrible for baseball.”

Around the game, players and members of other organizations generally recoiled at the Astros’ apology efforts. Sean Manaea, Whit Merrifield, Andrew Heaney, David Freese and Dave Roberts were among the many names to speak up. Freese tweeted that the Astros’ media sessions were a “[expletive] joke,” while Roberts merely told reporters that he “believes in karma.” Merrifield told the Kansas City Star that the scandal “discredits everything those players have ever done” and pulled no punches in laying out the manner in which he’s lost all of the respect he once held for Astros players. Cody Bellinger spoke perhaps the strongest words of all, saying that Altuve “stole an MVP from [Aaron] Judge” and that the Astros “stole the ring from us.”

Crane’s inane comments seemed to spark particular ire. The Astros’ owner sounded more like Michael Scott than a contrite piece of the puzzle in making yesterday’s tone-deaf assertion: “I don’t think I should be held accountable.” And while he can continue his efforts to distance himself from the scandal and place blame on the leadership that he fired — GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch — those leaders were in place because of Crane’s own doing. Whether he was genuinely in the dark on the sign-stealing scheme or merely ignorant, the only people who seem to buy Crane’s lack of awareness work in the Astros organization or in Manfred’s office.

Crane later doubled down on his lack of accountability, stating that he believes the sign stealing “didn’t impact the game.” Less than a minute later, he claimed that he “didn’t say it didn’t impact the game.” His similarly clumsy closing remark that sign-stealing “could possibly [impact competition]” or “could possibly not” only further exemplified the extent of his dishonesty or delusion about the effect of his team’s actions. Yankees manager Aaron Boone appeared exasperated (video link) when asked about Crane’s statement that the Astros’ cheating didn’t impact the game, calling it “quite a reach.”

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Manaea torched the Astros for “skating by” and was particularly critical of Crane’s claims: “What’s the point of cheating then? Why as a team did you collectively do it? Why did no one stop it? You’re not cheating to get worse or be the same. You’re cheating to win.”

Merrifield agreed: “It definitely [tainted their championship] because they didn’t feel like they could do it by going out and playing the game. … So if they don’t think they could have won it, why should we think they could’ve won it in 2017?”

Joining the party this afternoon was Reds righty Trevor Bauer. The ever-opinionated hurler offered some well-reasoned and forcefully delivered remarks, as Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports. Given his history with some of the Houston players, and prior comments on this matter, it was hardly surprising to hear Bauer label the Astros “filthy,” “hypocritical,” and “underhanded.” He reserved added animosity for Crane, with Bauer labeling him a liar.

Executives have also weighed in. Nationals president of baseball ops Mike Rizzo and Yankees GM Brian Cashman made no secret of their disdain for the Astros’ actions, as MASNsports.com’s Mark Zuckerman (link) and MLB.com’s Bryan Hoch (link) report. Rizzo said he feels the Houston organization must acknowledge that it cheated and called for a fully complete investigation. Cashman was a bit less strident but did acknowledge being upset. Both leaders also noted a need to move forward, though it still seems there’s some cleanup left for the league.

Looking back to the Houston organization itself … on the whole, the scene at Astros’ camp seemed almost satirical. Crane sat at a press conference in which he sought to absolve his players of any responsibility before immediately making them available to apologize for the same scandal he proclaimed not to be their fault. Early Thursday morning, it’d have been difficult to imagine the Astros walking away from the day somehow looking worse, but whatever contrition was displayed in the Astros’ clubhouse was overshadowed by the head-in-the-sand reaction of their owner. Perhaps Jim Crane’s master plan was to distract from his players’ role in the whole ordeal by flaunting his own public relations ineptitude. Mission accomplished, if that’s the case, but the organization looks no better today than it did before addressing the public yesterday.

[z - Gaz]

If I was in America I'd be trying to take trash cans to every Astros game. Can't wait to see all the signs.

[z - El Guapo - retired]

And this as well...

Rob Manfred Addresses Astros Scandal

By Mark Polishuk | February 16, 2020 at 8:38pm CDT

In an interview with ESPN’s Karl Ravech and during a press conference at the Braves’ Spring Training camp earlier today, commissioner Rob Manfred discussed a number of topics surrounding the game, but the bulk of attention was directly on the ongoing fallout from the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal.

Asked by Ravech why no Astros players were suspended or fined as part of the league’s investigation, Manfred said that “in a perfect world it would have happened. We ended up where we ended up in pursuit of really, I think, the most important goal of getting the facts and getting them out there for people to know it.”

Players were given immunity so that the league could freely acquire information on the details of the now-infamous sign-stealing process, which involved Astros players alerting (using signals ranging from whistling to banging a trash can) teammates at the plate as to what pitches were coming, after the Astros used real-time video technology to observe rival catchers’ signs. Such use of available video was forbade in a memo sent from the Commissioner’s Office to teams in 2017, but Manfred said Astros players weren’t made aware of the seriousness of the offense.

“The memorandum went to the general manager, and then nothing was done from the GM down,” Manfred said. “So we knew if we had disciplined the players in all likelihood we were going to have grievances and grievances that we were going to lose on the basis that we never properly informed them of the rules. Given those two things, No. 1, I knew where, or I’m certain where the responsibilities should lay in the first instance and given the fact we didn’t think we could make discipline stick with the players, we made the decision we made.”

Since the league’s ruling on the Astros’ punishment last month, Major League Baseball has faced widespread criticism from both fans and rival players about not only a seeming lack of discipline directed towards Houston players, but also at the franchise itself. While the Astros were fined $5MM and lost four draft picks, the fact that the organization wasn’t formally stripped of its 2017 World Series title has not sat well with many around the sport.

As Manfred told the Associated Press and other journalists, the league considered such a singular measure but decided against taking the championship away from the Astros.

“First of all, it had never happened in baseball,” Manfred said. “I am a precedent guy. The 2017 World Series will always be looked at as different, whether not you put an asterisk or ask for the trophy back. Once you go down that road as for changing the result on the field, I just don’t know where you stop.”

In regards to Astros players, Manfred told Ravech that the outrage directed at the team has served as a measure of additional punishment unto itself. “I think if you watch the players, watch their faces when they have to deal with this issue publicly, they have paid a price,” Manfred said. “To think they’re skipping down the road into spring training, happy, that’s just a mischaracterization of where we are.”

The early response to Manfred’s comments have not been positive, with particular criticism directed towards his rather flippant description of the Commissioner’s Trophy (as Manfred told Ravech, “The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems like a futile act“). As much as the league and the Astros would like to put the incident behind them, that outcome doesn’t seem possible in the near future given the amount of attention that several of the game’s biggest stars continue to focus on the situation. It also doesn’t help that Astros management and players continue to dig themselves into deeper public relations holes on a near-daily basis, whether it’s giving non-specific apologies during awkward press conferences, being unduly outraged at being accused of different methods of cheating during the 2017-19 span, and all the while insisting that the 2017 World Series was legitimately won.

The heated comments between the Astros and rival players has troubled Manfred, particularly statements from such pitchers as Ross Stripling and Mike Clevinger that Astros players might be hit by pitches as retaliation. Manfred met with several MLB managers today, and told reporters at Sunday’s press event that, “I hope that I made it extremely clear to them that retaliation in-game by throwing at a batter intentionally will not be tolerated, whether it’s Houston or anybody else. It’s dangerous and it is not helpful to the current situation.”

In addition, Manfred told Ravech that the league is preparing “a memorandum about intentionally throwing at batters. It’s really dangerous. Completely independent from the Astros investigation, we’ll be issuing a memorandum on hit by pitches which will increase the disciplinary ramifications of that type of behavior. I think that will be a tool for dealing with whatever flows from the Houston situation.”

If the Astros controversy wasn’t enough, there’s also the other ongoing league investigation into another championship team’s alleged improper use of video equipment, namely the 2018 Red Sox. Manfred said that he hopes that investigation will be concluded within two weeks’ time. It isn’t known what punishment could await the Boston organization, though as with the Astros case, Red Sox players were also given immunity in exchange for their insight on the matter.

[z - El Guapo - retired]

Today From MLBTradeRumors:

How MLB & The Astros Dug Their Own Hole

By Jeff Todd | February 18, 2020 at 5:14pm CDT

Fan anger surrounding the Astros cheating scandal has been stoked by the unmitigated heat coming from MLB players. Usually reserved figures (Nick Markakis being the latest) have laid bare their intense anger over the cheating of their peers and the league’s handling of the matter to date.

This isn’t how it was supposed to go for MLB commissioner Rob Manfred and Astros owner Jim Crane when they released a double-whammy on January 13th. No doubt the hope was that suspending and then firing GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch (along with some punishment for the team) would do much of the necessary work of moving past a now-infamous trashcan-banging scheme — a scheme, it is important to note, that was rooted out by a combination of long-held suspicion, investigative reporting, and dedicated public analysis (aided by the very same technology that has boosted MLB’s fortunes and allowed the Astros to hatch their scheme).

While Manfred orchestrated this approach to dealing with the situation, he surely hoped the furor would die down by the time Spring Training rolled around. Instead, players around the game have directed a steady and potent stream of venom at their opponents, as well as at Manfred and Crane. It’s a reaction without precedent, and Manfred is a self-proclaimed “precedent guy.”

The curveball was not preceded by a pair of loud bangs — but perhaps they still should’ve seen it coming.

The core problem with the league’s and the team’s handling of this situation doesn’t lie in the specifics of just what punishment was meted out. It’s inherent to the crisis-management approach that MLB and the Astros adopted. It all comes off as entirely driven not by what’s right, but by what is convenient, which is precisely the wrong tone when the underlying matter of concern relates to the essential fairness of the contest that itself underlies the entire economic structure of Baseball.

In somewhat different ways, over time, Manfred, Crane and many of the Astros players have left an impression of insincerity. Initial suspicions to that effect seemed to be confirmed by later statements and actions. And that leads to yet more suspicions, which is probably why we’re all now well versed in the unwritten rules of on-field clothing removal and Jose Altuve’s tattoo travails.

More to the point, this reinforced sense of disingenuousness completely undermines the reasoning behind the punishment that was and wasn’t imposed. And it provides the tinder and kindling needed to turn a trashcan bang into a dumpster fire.

The typically reserved Mike Trout says he “lost some respect for some guys” — which is a quietly immense issuance of judgment roughly akin to your beloved grandmother softly crying and informing you that you have let her down. He says it’s unfortunate that players involved in the illicit scheme have escaped punishment.

But wait … Manfred says this too! He said just the other day he’d have punished players “in a perfect world,” explaining why he couldn’t and didn’t. So why the loathing for the commish? Why is Justin Turner calling Manfred out in such stark terms (beyond the fact that the commissioner stepped on a rake by calling the commissioner’s trophy a “piece of metal”)?

Here’s why: the league only backed into the real explanation for its stance after it couldn’t get the players to pipe down about the subject. And when the truth finally emerged, it was accompanied by a baseless suggestion that the MLBPA is at least as much to blame for the lack of punishment of specific players.

Evan Drellich of The Athletic (subscription link) and Jeff Passan of ESPN.com each covered the matter from a fundamentally legal perspective, explaining why the league simply could not have imposed punishment of the Astros players. You can read on for the full details, but the essential reason is fairly straightforward: the league didn’t act in advance to install clear rules and therefore wouldn’t have had solid legal ground to stand on in suspending or fining players.

This is, on the one hand, a sensible and comprehensible explanation. Manfred acknowledges in an interview with Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic (subscription link) that his office wasn’t ahead of the game when it came to the use of technology to steal signs. Whether that was or wasn’t a major failure on the league’s part can be debated. But Manfred’s hands were tied when the Astros scandal hit.

Fine. But this isn’t what we heard when Manfred issued his report and disciplinary decision a month back.

That report spent more time expressly clearing Crane of any wrongdoing or responsibility than it did mentioning legal obstacles to disciplining players. Manfred wrote that it would be “difficult and impractical” to punish specific players, not because of these newly revealed reasons but because so many had participated and some now played for other teams. He said he placed blame primarily on the leaders (Luhnow and Hinch, especially) rather than on players; indeed, Manfred wrote that “some players may have understood that their conduct was not only condoned by the Club, but encouraged by it.” We were also told that players were granted immunity for their testimony — a practical necessity to reach the truth.

Even as it revises its stance — it’s not that the initial lack of punishment was necessarily right and appropriate; it’s that, oh man, we totally would’ve suspended them but we couldn’t! — MLB has rather obviously started a whisper campaign to draw the union into the circle of distrust. There is still no public reporting to tell us much of anything about what the MLBPA did or did not do between the emergence of the scandal and the issuance of Manfred’s report. But we’re now being treated to hints (or, in some cases, outright claims) that suggest the union hindered player punishment and was wrong for doing so.

Barring some compelling information that has yet to be revealed, this is flatly ridiculous.

First of all, it isn’t as if the union has stood firmly in the way of all punishments of players. We have rules in place that give Manfred broad leeway to punish players accused of domestic violence and certain other bad acts. There’s a broad regime dealing with performance enhancing drugs. In virtually all cases in recent years, suspensions have been worked out in advance without grievance actions to challenge them. And we’ve seen strong evidence that players writ large are not cool with cheating of the Astros’ kind.

Further, there is no indication here that the union was asked for its approval of any leaguewide system for dealing with illicit sign stealers — let alone that it obstructed any league effort to do so. To the contrary, Manfred acknowledges the league didn’t have quite enough foresight. Neither is there any suggestion that the union specifically gummed up actual attempts by the league to pursue discipline against Astros players.

Rather, the implied reasoning goes like this: Manfred told Luhnow he couldn’t use technology to steal signs. Whether or not he was on notice, Luhnow didn’t tell the players in sufficient detail. That lack of notice to the players made it legally impossible to punish players who eventually cheated (with the assistance of Luhnow’s staffers). And this is … the union’s fault?

Here’s how MLB.com’s Alyson Footer states things, via Twitter: “My only point is — if players are mad Astros weren’t punished, they need to talk to the union, since the union is the reason why players were granted immunity.”

It’s rather stunning to see such an intimation that the union is somehow at fault for advocating for the rights of individual players. The union’s purpose — its legal duty, in fact — is to represent all of its members and back their rights. It would be inconceivable to give up compelling legal arguments against punishment of specific players, even if the union was amenable to working out clear-cut rules to prevent this sort of behavior.

Rosenthal seemingly casts aspersions in a different but still notable manner: “In fairness, Manfred was not alone in failing to see the future clearly. As far back as 2015, the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) expressed concerns to MLB about the rise of technology in the sport. The union, however, did not directly focus on the threat to the game’s integrity.”

The suggestion here, and in other similar accounts in the media, seems to be that the MLBPA shares equal responsibility with the commissioner’s office for studying and guiding the overall path of the game. One wonders whether the league really feels this way when it is bargaining with its players. As a practical matter, the union has nowhere near the resources or the breadth of responsibilities and capabilities enjoyed by Major League Baseball. Craig Calcaterra of NBC Sports has much more to say on this particular point.

Manfred has stated that the primary focus was on rooting out all the misdeeds so that we’d all know just what had happened. “We ended up where we ended up in pursuit of really, I think, the most important goal of getting the facts and getting them out there for people to know it.” Concepts of truth-finding, transparency, and opportunity for public reaction (even shaming) are perhaps all necessary building blocks to ultimate reconciliation — especially for a bad act that cannot be met with retributive justice. It’s an approach deployed in situations far more dire than this one. But while Manfred seems to acknowledge as much, this is precisely where the investigation and assessment of punishment has failed so badly.

Manfred’s report called it a player-driven scheme but didn’t name any current players, leaving it to speculation and intrigue to guess at just who had been at the center of the scandal. This only deepened the problems caused by the lack of punitive action.

Then, ensuing reporting showed that Manfred had not revealed a bevy of pertinent information he had regarding the involvement of the Astros’ front office. In what the kids call a self-own, Manfred appeared to mock Jared Diamond of the Wall Street Journal for digging up the “private letter” he had sent on the topic to Luhnow. Manfred did not explain why that information was provided to the suspended Luhnow but not the broader public. He did not explain how the facts he set forth in that letter related to his conclusions regarding the player-driven nature of the sign-stealing/conveying scheme. And he was bizarrely dismissive of the importance of his own communications to club officials — despite specifically premising the punishment of Luhnow and lack of punishment of Astros players upon a league-issued memorandum.

Now, we’re left wondering: Are the ’Stros players really regretful? Can we trust them when they say they didn’t cheat in 2019? How exhaustive was Manfred’s investigation of that matter? What of the still-open Red Sox situation? Just yesterday, Sox owner John Henry and CEO Sam Kennedy indicated that they’ve yet to even be interviewed as part of the league’s probe into the organization, which is set to wrap up next week. What actually is the league stance on player culpability in the use of technology to steal signs? Does anyone care about the cheating that took place, or only that it was exposed?

Just as the Astros’ words have largely rung hollow, the league’s own statements are now tumbling into an ever-widening credibility gap. “I hate where we are,” Manfred said of the scandal. Before MLB and the Astros can climb out of the hole they dug for themselves, they’ll need to backfill it with the unvarnished truth.