Astros hammered in cheating scandal

[MaineDolFan]

Bleacher Report is reporting AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow have both been suspended for one year for their roles in the sign stealing scandal. 

The Astros were hit with a $5 million dollar fine and give up their 1st and 2nd round picks in 2020 and 2021.

Huge news out of MLB today.

Expect similar action heading to Boston soon.

[CF DolFan]

Wow! Looks like MLB is serious.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Rumors are that Alex Cora is going to get it worse because he was involved with two different team's scandals.

[MyGodWearsAHoodie]

Came down pretty hard on Taubman too.  Although I would say that being pro-domestic abuse is worse than stealing signs.  And Taubman seems to openly approve of domestic abuse.

[Sunstroke]

Wow...that is definitely some serious punishment.

[BuccaneerBrad]

Definitely a harsh punishment but they get to keep their 2017 World Series title when they cheated to get it. 

Maine, if what you're saying is true about Boston, they probably won't get hit as hard. 

[masterfins]

Rumors are that Alex Cora is going to get it worse because he was involved with two different team's scandals.

I could see Cora being placed on baseballs ineligible list.

[MaineDolFan]

I think Cora* is going to get it worse, as an individual.  He brought this culture from Houston to a new team.  I think the suspension will be the same, he will be on probation after and he will see larger personal fines.  The Sox will most likely lose draft picks but not like what Houston saw, that is staggering.  

I'm not sure if people grasp what a good front office can do with two 1st and two 2nd round picks, year over year.  The implications of losing those will be felt much deeper than the money, or the suspensions.  That is mind blowing to me.

*If I'm John Henry I'm also running as far and fast from Alex Cora as I can.  As soon as MLB comes down, I'm firing him.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Definitely a harsh punishment but they get to keep their 2017 World Series title when they cheated to get it. 

Maine, if what you're saying is true about Boston, they probably won't get hit as hard. 

The letter from the league even states that they were cheating during the 2017 postseason as well.

The league cannot take away titles or even put asterisks next to them. That is a scandal that they don't even want to think about, but they are giving away tough punishments as a future deterrent. IF another team is caught doing this, I would expect about 3 years of no draft picks and multi-year suspensions for those involved. The league isn't messing around, they have two straight World Series championship teams tainted by a cheating scandal and they want to make sure this doesn't happen again. Cora is going to get multiple years once the Boston investigation is done. He may even get a permanent ban depending on how much proof they find.

[EDGECRUSHER]

I think Cora* is going to get it worse, as an individual.  He brought this culture from Houston to a new team.  I think the suspension will be the same, he will be on probation after and he will see larger personal fines.  The Sox will most likely lose draft picks but not like what Houston saw, that is staggering.  

I'm not sure if people grasp what a good front office can do with two 1st and two 2nd round picks, year over year.  The implications of losing those will be felt much deeper than the money, or the suspensions.  That is mind blowing to me.

*If I'm John Henry I'm also running as far and fast from Alex Cora as I can.  As soon as MLB comes down, I'm firing him.

Yeah, the money to an MLB team is a joke and more symbolic. The draft picks are the real killer although I would've liked to see them lose out on international signings for two years too.

As a Yankee fan, this pisses me off more than most but the balls on AJ Hinch to call the Yankees sore losers when he knew they were cheating. Fuck that guy.

[CF DolFan]

Astros fired them both. I wonder how hard it is for them to get a job in a year.

[EDGECRUSHER]

Astros fired them both. I wonder how hard it is for them to get a job in a year.

I wouldn't be surprised if this was the end of their baseball careers. The GM was allegedly a huge asshole and MLB even said so in their letter, about the culture he created.The manager may have disapproved but he helped cover it up as well. Managers and GMs are a dime a dozen, none of them will be hired any time soon. Maybe in 5 or 6 years if this blows over.

[CF DolFan]

^^^^I'd think so too but I'm always amazed about friendships in the different leagues.

[Spider-Dan]

Managers and GMs are a dime a dozen, none of them will be hired any time soon.

World Series winning* GMs and managers, on the other hand, are quite rare.  While HOU had to fire them, I think (all things considered) half the teams in the majors would happily trade places with the Astros today.

[EDGECRUSHER]

World Series winning* GMs and managers, on the other hand, are quite rare.  While HOU had to fire them, I think (all things considered) half the teams in the majors would happily trade places with the Astros today.

GM's are better than managers IMO, but what good is a championship winning GM and Manager if they got there via cheating? MLB even said they cheated during the 2017 postseason. The drama that surrounds them alone is probably enough to keep them unemployed for a very long time. Not just the media but the added scrutiny that MLB will surely put on the team that hires them.