It sucks to see Hinch and Lunhow go, but I gotta respect Crane for doing what he did. It really feels like his hand was forced, not by MLB or anything, but by circumstance. This postseason and offseason have been horrible for the organization from a PR standpoint, and the systemic rot that has pervaded from within seems to be pretty valid. Maybe they weren't directly involved in this mess, but they failed to act, and as such, are just as culpable. It sucks. I really feel for them, especially Hinch. It's nice to see that he opposed the scheme, but he wasn't vocal enough. And now here we are.
How asshurt are you Jon? Did you read the report *******? I guess Rob Manfred is being a big meanie as well! "The attempt by the Astros’ replay review room staff to decode signs using the center field camera was originated and executed by lower-level baseball operations employees..." "Some lower-level Astros employees were aware of the rules violations or participated in the violations at the direction of others. I will defer to the Astros whether the conduct of these more junior employees merits discipline or other remedial action."
How many people were saying they were innocent? Didn't see many who thought so after the video was released. Though if you were a loyal fan I doubt you would be LOL'ing at today's events.
Maybe maybe not but 3 years of tanking lowered the ethical bar for the front office which contributed to win at all cost mentality. It paid off and I'm glad it did but let's not pretend it's not a form of cheating the system.
I absolutely hate this. I’m a big Hinch guy. Players loved him and I for one loved the way he managed the team. I know Luhnow is the brains behind everything, but this one gets me more.
This is a kick in the balls. Somehow the world finds a way to take away the one time the Astros win it all.
Luhnow was too much of a pain in the ass for Manfred for him not to get canned. Tanking, manipulating the draft pool system, the Aiken/Nix/Marshall debacle, signing PED int’l guys, leaving his system open to be hacked, trading for Osuna, Taubman, sign-stealing...it was one thing after another and Manfred considered him bad for the game. I have LOVED following Luhnow through the last 7 years, but he has demonstrated a pattern of flying too close to the sun while not giving a **** about how it looks. This was just the last straw. The other owners had reservations about Crane as an owner before he bought the Astros. Manfred let him know Luhnow had to go. I will be very surprised if Jeff Luhnow ever works in baseball again. However, I think Hinch will find his way back into the game. He’s much more likable than Luhnow and has a lot more friends in other front offices. In many ways he was collateral damage. He had to be suspended to justify Luhnow’s punishment (given Hinch was closer to the situation than Luhnow), and once a guy is suspended for a whole year, it’s really hard to keep him on.
Here's my conspiracy theory. Mlb gave Crane 2 options. 1)fire Luhnow and Hinch. They won't be banned but it'll be up to other teams whether they want to hire them. Still gives those 2 a chance at baseball. The $5 mil fine plus the amount owed to those 2 and the cost of hiring a new GM and manager is the fine. If you fire them then we will give you a lesser punishment (which is why it looks like they got off easily). 2)don't fire them then we will ban them which means they have no shot at baseball and Houston would still be without those 2. And the punishment would be more severe. Obviously Crane takes option 1 for many reasons. When he fires Luhnow and Hinch, explains the situation. Both are understanding which is why in their statements, they're not ******** towards the organization.
You’re being a bit dramatic on Luhnow’s transgressions... and each of those instances has been emulated (if not embraced) by other teams. Every team uses the draft bonus pool. Countless teams employ DV abusers. I also highly doubt they wanted their system to be hacked... that is a pretty bad case of victim blaming. Manfred does not have an axe to grind with Luhnow... if so, he could have just banned him outright. But even he knows that’s too harsh a penalty even if Luhnow did orchestrate each and every aspect of the cheating scandal (which he didn’t).
Maybe... but if baseball wanted to ban them for life, they should just ban them. I highly doubt this is the end of this saga from their standpoint. It’s also very likely they will end up back in baseball, if not on the same team. I again bring up the Steinbrenner saga, along with the PED users who were allowed to play again. This is not worse... not better either.
I think this is the beginning of the end. Chemistry is a huge part and the players love Hinch. New management is going to come in and move players.
Honestly this whole situation pisses me off because in the exact same situation, there is no way the Yankees, Red Sox, or Dodgers (and maybe the Cubs) get the same punishment. The national sports media couldn't stand the fact that a team outside of the protected three was building a protected dynasty, and other baseball front office types were pissed that a guy who did it differently was embarrassing them along the way. The media has been chomping at the bit to take this organization down. Look at how they have been regarding Osuna compared to the practical silence from the same people regarding Chapman on the Yankees. It was made even more obvious by absolute avalanche of hit pieces on the team by pretty much every single major sports media site after the Taubman situation and sign stealing stuff came out. Despite multiple articles mentioning numerous teams were involved, none of these so called "journalists" took the time to attempt to report on who else was implicated. Nope, it was nothing but "Astros Astros Astros". Also let's also remember how the national media has been ignoring other scandals such as the Angels front office essentially running an opioid ring and resulting in an actual death. Honestly, the national sports media can EAD as far as I'm concerned.
The sign stealing using cameras was a home game only thing. So they only benefited if they benefited at all at home. The Astros have the best road record in the majors the past 3 seasons. The Astros are stacked talent wise regardless of the cheating scandal.
