None of the guys were trying to do the right thing. They did what, at the time, they thought was in their best interest after Fiers snitched. Nobody involved in any capacity has done the "right thing" in regards to sign stealing. It has been one giant league wide clusterf**k that Manfred should have addressed years ago. Instead he's just trying to plug holes to prevent more issues from leaking out.
Doing the right thing is much more than trying to pay as little as possible in fines. If that's your definition of "doing the right thing" it says a lot about your mindset. Not saying it's wrong but that's a very skewed look at "doing the right thing". I actually have a lot of respect for the Astros for coming clean , unlike the rest of MLB.
I was involved in the claims data with the oil spill from many different angles. I saw first hand how it was handled. Despite not doing the right thing which led to the spill, AFTER the spill, BP did more than any other company on earth would or could have done to try to make it right. They wrote checks to everybody that was even tangentially effected by the spill. They hired every whack job with a boat in the gulf, they brought in outside companies and gave them access to company secrets and IP (which was NOT required by the government) to get it stopped and cleaned up. Was part of it in their self interest? Absolutely...but it did NOTHING for them, either financially or with their public perception. I personally sat in meetings with Government officials, from Louisiana to the VP of the country, as they effusively praised BP for doing everything in their power make things right, above and beyond what was legally required. Those same officials would then be on TV that night dragging them through the dirt. Half of those Louisiana officials became spillionaires. My point being...if you make a terrible mistake, and then try to make it right...no matter what you do to make it right matters...so you might as well pucker up. I don't think its a GOOD thing...its just the way of the world, especially the media. In the US, we used to like to think that we were forgiving of mistakes if you owned up to them. Its just not the case anymore.
Like I said I am not knocking your dollar and cents perspective, I just don't think you can base that as doing the right thing. Maybe BP did not want their brand tied to a 10 year legal struggle about the worst oil related disaster in history or that by not fighting this in court those funds could actually go to the needy, I think that equation is more important than the dollar amounts. As a lawyer I completely understand your position I just don't think "doing the right thing" should be the descriptor.
