He's probably already said everything to MLB that they need to know as part of the investigation interview.
The players either turned to save themselves and be given immunity or they just had no way of pinpointing players so you take out the leaders who ultimately the bucks stops with
That doesn't really make it any better. He knew they were doing it and had the authority to stop it and he didn't. So, he was still involved/complicit.
And another thing... Does anyone else have a problem with the fact that two men’s careers may have been completely ruined over this, and the players who did it didn’t even get a slap on the wrist? And what about Beltran? He was as deeply involved as anyone and is still going to manage with no punishment whatsoever. I wasn’t always Hinch’s biggest fan, but he’s a young guy. His career may be over. Crane just took a big steaming dump on his two most important executives, men who were already being heavily punished by the league, and then drove a stake through their hearts instead of having their backs. Why would ANYONE want to work for that man now?
Because baseball is going after organizations, not players. They don't care about punishing the foot soldiers.
Ok... so of potential 4 lost picks, they still have one within the first 3 rounds.... and every other pick after, with enough of a budget to sign all their picks. Its a terribly harsh penalty... but to say this absolutely ruins their future is a little short-sighted. Even the bad drafting Drayton Astros still produced MLB players (and in some cases, all-stars) via the farm in the lean years... it was the incessant trading of prospects for past-prime players that did them in (along with being cheap and not signing a lot of picks, not just the top ones).
I would love to have kept both those guys in their roles for the 2021 season and Crane could have easily done that. But this is a justifiable firing and probably the best way to move on. Sucks but Crane isn’t a **** owner because of it. That’s a bad take.
The penalty seems out of proportion for the offense particularly given some of the behavior that MLB has simply ignored. However, ultimately the leaders of the organization are responsible for the behavior of the employees they oversee. Given how harsh the penalties were, I'm surprised that no players received any punishment. They are also responsible for their own actions and I'm not sure what message this sends to the players - it's OK to cheat if you want your manager fired?
Wondering if this was forced by MLB...either way what a shitty day. Especially if Lunhow had no idea. I can understand Hinch (though I hate to see it as I love AJ)
I agree AJ seems like a good guy and "you can't fire the players" saying is ringing loudly now. Crane is trying to save face, whether or not he is going to far I don't know but he won't be accused of doing nothing about it.
