Hinch will work again. The transparent self serving report from the commissioners office lays that out. The characterization of Hinch was one of a poor guy that got caught up in all of this and didn’t like it and was overwhelmed. The truth is different, but Hinch handled the situation the way the commissioner wanted. Luhnow is different. He was evasive, he didn’t come clean and has a track record. The league’s description of him is starkly different. He likely isn’t back until he repents or works it out behind closed doors with the commissioners office.
It is rampant across baseball. Cheating is part of baseball culture. It comes down to how far down the rabbit hole MLB wants to go.
He was pretty congratulatory of Luhnow when he didn’t have to be. not going to read too much into the specific words used or not used. Sure, Hinch likely didn’t organize it... but he was literally right there every step of the way and knew full details of how the acts were being carried out (trash cans...whistling... being the one giving some of the signs... being paranoid about other teams doing to them what they were doing). Hinch should not be looked at as a martyr. He’s as guilty by association as any of the front office or owner. His nice guy persona is helping him in the aftermath. If anything, Luhnow seems to have been tried on his entire tenure with all the other issues that he’s been involved with, rather than just this issue alone... and that seems more far-reaching beyond what the scope of this investigation was supposed to reveal. And in the end, if he doesn’t want Luhnow in the game anymore, why not just suspend/ban him indefinitely?
People forget over time and at the end of the day, we still have a world series. AJ and Jeff will work again, not sure together, but it's a matter of time as people forgive and get a second chance. I do think everyone has done it in some form or fashion, and I just hope there is some equal punishment if you're going to do this to the Astros...
Agreed, but I don't think this was all about the cheating. It was about Taubman too and just the general reputation of the organization.
I don't disagree...I understand why Crane did this, but still think it was not a smart baseball move...While we have the players, the chemistry, relationship and trust they had with AJ is gone and hard to replace... #stealitback #toosoon #whatevs
Luhnow’s wife replying to those tweets saying Jeff was thrown under the bus and knew nothing about it. I’m very confident Hinch will work in baseball again, Luhnow I’m not so sure.
I could see Luhnow working in a different sport before he gets another baseball job I'm not gonna feel too bad for him though, I would guess he could afford a pretty decent retirement at this point
That’s one of the reasons I don’t think he will work in baseball again. Not only is interest going to be limited, but he has other options. If I’m him, why would I try to come back to baseball where everywhere you go strangers will heckle you? F that, especially when the alternative is to go back to being a corporate executive or consultant or starting a new business and making potentially hundreds of millions of dollars.
You don’t get banned for life for unsubstantiated, media-driven reputation. The media literally developed their worst vendettas against Luhnow during the tanking years... a strategy that ownership played the biggest role in implementing. Luhnow was an unapologetic ******* during that time... and it was tough to take when the team hadn’t accomplished anything in nearly a decade. If the media wants to continue that vendetta and apply this punishment to that, so be it... but the tanking is also contributory to the success we’ve all relished in, so slightly hypocritical of all to say Luhnow deserves this fully because of the history of his actions/edicts.
I don’t think Hinch is without blame. In fact I think he likely deserves the most blame. He knew about what was going on. He could have easily stopped his coach (Cora) and veteran player (Beltran) and he didn’t. He also lied about it back in October. However the report purposely painted Hinch in a sympathetic light. As for Luhnow, this isn’t the leagues first issue with him. Even reporters in Chicago this morning were talking about how Luhnow was roundly disliked around the league and was viewed as deceptive. The report paints a similar picture. Why wasn’t he banned? There is at this point zero evidence that Luhnow knew of the sign stealing. Further, it also sets precedent for others as well. The local Chicago baseball beat reporter just said that a lot of people in and around baseball have wanted Luhnow gone for years. There is no real question that Luhnow was made an example of.
The Astros under Luhnow must have really really pissed the media off. I am listening to baseball people in the media talking about the Astros. This is completely over the top. Stating that at this point the accomplishments of Verlander and Cole have to be discounted because they obviously were cheating with spin rates. Claiming the Astros entire front office and coaching staff should have been let go... wild.
Remember what St Louis Cardinals did to the Astros and what punishment they got, it wasn't the heads that got...... Cheating is wrong, but this type of cheating is not on the level of corked bat, substance in glove or neck and steroid. I wished they would do all the home games and see how many games were cheated. I'm going to say mostly low attendance games and the Stros pack most nights. Owner gone beserk. When Hinch has a new team expect a lot of ex-Stros and big name free-agents to play for him. He took the fall of his players.
So Sam Hinkie & Jeff Luhnow (and possibly in the future Daryl Morey) go to lunch and share stories how they were "blackballed" from their leagues.
It will be one idiot of an agent that will allow their client to be accosted with someone suspended for cheating. Bye bye endorsements. You guys just don't get the stain this will leave on AJ and Jeff's reputation. The denial is still strong here.
I'm surprised you are still paying attention to it. I disconnected from the national baseball scene after the initial story broke. Any baseless accusation is accepted, and none of the Astros players are actually any good. It's been ridiculous for a while.