Obviously, the ruling that MLB made against the Houston Astros today for their sign-stealing scandal was unprecedented. Jeff Passan broke the news on twitter early Monday afternoon.
Additionally, MLB will fine the Astros $5 million and take away their first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, sources tell ESPN.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2020
Then came questions about manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Lunhow. Notably those questions did not hang in the balance for long, because Astros’ owner Jim Crane fired them both during the press conference. It was like a mafia movie when a heist goes bad.
Jeff Luhnow and A.J. Hinch have been dismissed, #Astros owner Jim Crane announces. @MLBNetwork @MLB
— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) January 13, 2020
Next the news came that the players of the Astros would not be suspended. However, my reaction is that this will torpedo their organization. The Houston Astros as we know them effectively died today, because this is not a scandal that you can just come back from. Factor in that they lost their first round picks for the next two seasons as well as the organizational turmoil, and you have a full-blown nightmare.
The #Astros will not suspend any player on their roster at this time, Jim Crane said.
— Michael Baron (@michaelgbaron) January 13, 2020
Around the dinner hour, Jeff Lunhow’s reaction came. He took little responsibility for the incident, and threw former coach Alex Cora under the bus. Cora will likely not escape this wrath either, with his punishment coming in a few days.
Here is Jeff Luhnow's full statement, his first response to today's news. pic.twitter.com/9AbDFEtkbP
— Jared Diamond (@jareddiamond) January 13, 2020
Jeff Passan reports that Carlos Beltran (now manager of the New York Mets) will not be punished because he was a player at the time. Still, Passan says that the ax is going to fall on Cora.
No players were disciplined by Major League Baseball in the Astros' investigation. While Mets manager Carlos Beltran was part of it, he was a player at the time and thus was not suspended.
Discipline for Red Sox manager Alex Cora is coming. It is going to be harsh, per sources.
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2020
Finally, the Cora tidbit.
"Witnesses consistently describe this new scheme as player-driven … with the exception of Cora." pic.twitter.com/BbUZHulZlh
— Jeff Passan (@JeffPassan) January 13, 2020
My reaction to this is that the story has not ended, but it’s only just begun. This is a true ‘tower’ moment in baseball if we have ever seen it. Now that the tower has fallen down, each day the story will be the toppling of it and how the Astros rebuild it.
The ripple effect was felt all throughout baseball, so reactions will be coming from a lot of people involved and surrounding it. When that time comes, I’ll put as much of it on these very pages as possible. While it is a black eye on the sport, this is baseball history.
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