Most local news is. I’m guessing they probably tried to reach out to a more national source but were rebuffed due to the possible damage this could cause to MLB? But the timing is indeed strange. Seems intentional that they’re releasing this after the Astros season is done to limit the distraction.
We will have to see the whole interview but the clips they’ve released and the timing of the interview make Luhnow look pretty desperate. He probably thinks because the “truth” is on his side he can repair his image with an interview and get another GM job, but I highly doubt that will be the outcome. The whole reason he got fired in the first place is because MLB as a whole didn’t like him. This isn’t going to help that. I am really surprised because I assumed he would just go do something else because he’s a smart and capable guy. I always figured if he was gonna fight it he would do it thru his lawyers and do it behind the scenes. Doing tabloid style interviews seems really stupid and is a sign of a poisonous ego. Sad, really.
If the had Astros advanced to the World Series I wouldn't be surprised if this was still shown tonight. If anything they may have looked at the calendar and said, hey let's broadcast this the day before the Astros are possibly playing game 1 of the WS.
Always struck me as the stereotypical technocrat-type: very smart and great at his job combined with a total inability to understand and deal with other human beings. I just hope Crane doesn't feel the need to give some sort of interview in response to whatever Luhnow says. Seems like every time he opens his mouth he inserts his foot in it.
I'll reserve my judgment until I watch the whole thing. The whole "Our team broke the rules" could be interpreted as the players, sure, but maybe he meant his front office team? Either way, kudos to our own LOCAL news station for bringing this up after the team worked its ass off coming back from 0-3 and almost getting to the WS.
Agreed. This interview, if it was conducted within the past couple of weeks and not like months ago, reeks of desperation.
You can almost count on this just being an attempt for Luhnow to improve his own image and PR. If it’s anything more than a lightweight self serving piece of “meh” journalism I’d be surprised.
And that's exactly why it's on a local news channel...because it's way easier for him to control the narrative and the interview this way. I used to work for a company that trained professionals to deal with the media in crisis situations as well as PR attempts generally. This is page 1. Picking the first person in the media you speak with, if possible, is critical, because what most people hear first is all they'll ever remember.
Why did MLB not like him? 1. He showed MLB there was a different way to do things like cutting scouting depts/Minor league teams. This upset traditionalists. 2. Because he was able to beat the NYY/LAD/Red Sox it cost MLB $$$. 3. The Media didn't like him because he was singularly focused on winning and wasn't willing to play the media game. In fact he could give two sh!ts what the media thought and the media like Drellich got their feelings hurt when they were wrong about Luhnow's plan working and then you add in the fact that Luhnow was willing o trade for Osuna because it gave the team a better of winning. Luhnow was all about winning and people in general and MLB in particular dont like these types of people. Why doesn't MLB like these types of people? Because if they work for a small market team it cuts into MLB's bottom line. It's all about the money for Manfred.
Jeff is gonna bury the Astros. He knows his days in baseball are over and he’s gonna go out with a bang
Agreed, but I think the real reason Luhnow didn't go national is because the national media hates him and wouldn't do this interview with him. The National media and MLB just wants Luhnow to just go away. He's not going away quitely and I'm glad this is the case. Tell me this, Hinch admitted to knowing the cheating was going on and he's going to get another job. Luhnow didn't and he isn't going to get another job. I wonder why? I learned that Crane paid a known cheater and didn't pay a guy who has maintained his innocence and was willing to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. I cant wait to see tonights interview. If I was Cal McNair I would hire Luhnow tomorrow to be my GM.
What desperation? He's pissed because Crane didn't pay off the rest of his contract like Crane did with Hinch and rightfully so. Right or wrong winning a WS and setting the team up for long term succes if Click doesn't screw up has made and will make Crane alot more money over the yrs. Crane should've paid Luhnow off and washed his hands of this if he didn't want this type of interview to happen. I bet Luhnow wins the lawsuit. A lie detector test would tell the truth behind this.
https://sportstalk790.iheart.com/fe...scusses-her-interview-w-jeff-luhnow-interview Will there be anything we hear in this interview that blows our mind or shocks us tonight? VR: There's a couple of bombshells for sure. The full interview was 37 minutes long. Most of that will air and then we'll have the full thing online. He definitely gave a lot of new information. He said no questions were off limits. Any bus tossing? Will people be called out that we're not expecting to be called out? VR: There were points in this interview where he talked about specific incidents, who handled which incidents. A lot of the times he didn't use names but maybe he used someone's job title. He got into a lot of not only the cheating part of it but the clean up of certain incidents. There were these talks about Jeff Luhnow creating a toxic culture so he tried to get into why he doesn't feel that's proper but he gives specific examples, talks about certain members of the organization and also has a message for Astros fans he wants them to hear as well. Will Astros fans be thumbs up or thumbs down after the interview? VR: It's funny because my job as a reporter is to help share the story & everyone can decide for themselves. I do think it will spur some conversations. He's a smart guy. He doesn't think everyone will love him after this but he wanted to share his perspective and give as much information possible with his side of what happened. He has some documents & evidence he and his lawyer were able to get his hands on that supports his argument and he wants people to hear that, see that and share his side of things. Does he reveal the evidence tonight? VR: He does. Why'd he do this interview? What's the reason? VR: I asked him about that and just the timing of it. It's been 9 months since he was let go. He felt it was the right time to share his story. He didn't want to do it while the Astros were playing. He didn't want to try to take attention from the Astros. He didn't want to try to steal their spotlight. He talked it over with his wife. He thought now was the proper time. The Astros are done playing. It's been 9 months. He didn't want to do it at the beginning of the pandemic either. It was a combination of things but he finally felt right. Do you get a sense from talking to him that this is the next step of being employed again? Does he believe he'll be working in baseball again? VR: I ask him that tonight and he has a fascinating answer that will interest a lot of people. You don't have to be that smart to know Jeff Luhnow transformed the Astros and the Cardinals. I have no doubt he'll be employed again because of business, analytics, statistics, everything he does well is highly sought after. I have no doubt he'll be employed again. Whether or not it's in baseball, you'll be able to hear some of that answer tonight. I don't think he did this just because he wants to work again. Obviously there's an element, if you remember when AJ Hinch sat down with Tom Verducci, there's an element of I have to get my side of the story out there. Maybe that's a small part of it but I truly do feel he authentically wanted to give a message to Astros fans, share his side and his perspective of what happened. How has this been on him and his family emotionally? VR: It's been tough, right? Anyone getting fired from any job that would be hard but the thing that I know really bothered him and he said in the interview being painted as the mastermind or the one who was starting everything. It's been hard on him. I asked him about that. He gets into how rough that's been but he's also honest. He has a couple of things he says he regrets. He doesn't say he's 100% perfect. It was a very honest & authentic interview. Did you get the feeling he felt his manager and/or players, that the organization threw him under the bus? That he felt he was on an island alone? VR: You'll hear a couple of examples where he felt he was kinda the scapegoat he talks about & it's not just the cheating scandal. There's a couple other incidents. When we talk about this evidence he and his lawyers were able to get their hands on, there's a couple of anecdotes from those pieces of evidence that would lead you to maybe see his perspective. Again, I'm not gonna tell anyone how to feel. He does talk about some incidents where he felt he kinda took one for the team and then he was just let go kinda harshly. He gets into that. There is emotion. There is a message to Astros fans. There's what he'll do next. There's details of when he knows they started cheating based on what he's heard & read. It was fascinating. You'll never change everybody's mind, that's not the goal but I'm a strong believer that everyone deserves a chance to tell their side of the story and then people can decide whether they believe that person. I don't know what your perspective of Jeff Luhnow was going into this but after sitting down talking to him, did your perspective of him change? VR: I was able to meet his family - he has a brother who is a writer, his wife, his in-laws, we really hit it off last year - but it's not like I knew him super well and covered him for years. I moved to Houston in August 2019. I did see a different side of him. I saw a more human side. I never thought he was the evil person people say he is. I did see a new perspective. He deserves to share his side of the story. No one has to like it or agree with it but I do think it'll put a new perspective on it. We've heard from AJ Hinch, the players, Jim Crane, other players from other teams so it'll be nice for people to hear from someone directly involved in the organization & had a front seat to this mess. MLB, the office of MLB, will their eyebrows raise? What will they say about this? VR: Tough to say. I think they'll definitely watch it. They want to know how much he talks about the investigation, how much he reveals and he does talk about his conversations with Rob Manfred. He does get into that. I don't know if they'll be upset. I'd think they'd know and that the Astros and Jim Crane would know at some point he'll share his perspective and his side of things. I don't know that they'll be upset but will they watch it and go over it, sure. This was one of the biggest scandals in sports.
Just like you don't trust a guy who has his last name written on any part of his body, you can't trust someone that cheers for the death star. Hell hath no fury like a GM scorned.
The tease reads like he’s going to say he’s not going to work in baseball anymore but just wanted his side of the story out there. If that’s true then I will have a lot more respect for him than if it’s just him desperately trying to shed blame so he can get another GM job.
I hope he just drops bombs on Yankees and redsox I doubt he wants to work in mlb again . I could see him becoming emperor of Latin American baseball . Use his contacts down there and take over the scene ... sorry mlb , you want to land this top kid ? you’ll have to go through el jeffe in closing , **** Rob manfred