Houston Astros Cheating Scandal: The Fallout Continues

One of the best teams in baseball now has a big question mark on their future. Major League Baseball handed down the Houston Astros’ punishment and they did not go easy on the 2017 World Series champions.

The team was fined $5 million which is the highest amount allowed. They were stripped of their 2020 and 2021 first and second round picks leaving the team’s future in question. Their general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch were both suspended for a year. Team owner Jim Crane quickly fired both after the punishments were announced.

Crane did not receive any punishment. A $5 million fine to a billionaire is like a speeding ticket to the rest of us. His franchise took a hit, but like everything else it will bounce back. The Astros remain champions and he will not be forced to sell the team. In the commissioner’s report, it clearly states they found no evidence Crane had knowledge of what was going on.

However, the report continued by stating that this level of cheating was brought on by an organizational culture problem, not just a few bad apples. On top the cheating scandal, this is the same organization who had to fire their assistant GM Brandon Taubman after a vile and disgusting outburst directed at three female reporters during the ALCS. He was also suspended a year by Major League Baseball.

This was the first real test of Commissioner Rob Manfred’s tenure. He declared that he would not hold players nor team owners responsible. “I will not assess discipline against individual Astros players,” Manfred wrote in his statement. “I made the decision in September 2017 that I would hold a Club’s General Manager and Field Manager accountable for misconduct of this kind, and I will not depart from that decision.”

While it was an aggressive punishment on the surface, many baseball executives do not believe it went far enough.

What Remains?

The Houston Astros will remain 2017 World Series champions. Manfred stopped just short of revoking their title. They will remain “champions” and none of the players will receive punishment.

Alex Cora was not initially let go by the Boston Red Sox when MLB’s punishments were handed down. However, just 24 hours later both the team and Cora mutually decided to separate. In 2018, the Red Sox came under investigation for also trying to gain an advantage over their competition. During the Astros’ 2017 title run, Cora served as bench coach and was named as the mastermind of the cheating scheme. It’s hard to imagine he gets another chance at a coaching position. There are so many coaching candidates who are not interlocked with two separate cheating scandals.

It’s hard to predict whether A.J. Hinch will get another shot in baseball. He was the leader of a really good Astros team that made two World Series appearances in three years. In the commissioner’s report, Hinch did not like the sign-stealing, but also did not try to stop it.

Why would he? The Astros were winning a lot of games and nobody had caught on yet as to why. He will forever be linked with this scandal and any team that brings him in will have to answer constant questions and severe scrutiny. It is possible he does make a return. Who would have thought admitted steroid user Mark McGuire would have been given the role of hitting coach?

All have eyes have turned to New York Mets manager Carlos Beltran who remains employed. Beltran was a player on the 2017 Astros team. Commissioner Manfred made it clear that he would not be holding players responsible for the scheme. There has been no indication from the Mets that they would be letting Beltran go.

This isn’t a good look for a sport desperate to figure out how to get more fans to stadiums. Hopefully the Houston Astros punishment will deter other teams from using electronics to get an advantage on the diamond.