After months of anticipation, we finally receive news of the “severe punishment” for sign stealing using technology that Rob Manfred has been telling us about for so long.
So you can imagine my surprise when the punishment, in my eyes, does not reflect the crime.
The Crime
Just in cased you missed it, the Astros were accused of using technology to steal signs during the 2017 season. They used a video monitor and signaled using a trash can to communicate which pitch to expect next.
Here is the official MLB statement regarding evidence and the investigation:
The Punishment
- GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager AJ Hinch both received one-year suspensions without pay
- The Astros lose their 1st and 2nd round draft picks in 2020 and 2021 (This is the most severe part of the punishment)
- $5 million fine
The Problem
What the Astros (and Red Sox) did brings the entirety of MLB and it’s fairness into question. Let me ask you this: are you ever going to watch baseball the same way after knowing two major organizations used technology to manipulate the outcome of two entire seasons? The cheating does not just affect the playoffs, it affects the entire years standings, wildcard races, etc. Other organizations who were in the playoff chase missed out. Maybe it would’ve been different if everyone was playing fair. We’ll never know.
Imagine being a Dodgers Fan right now? I’m disappointed as it is, and I didn’t have to watch my favorite team lose the World Series two years in a row just to find out that it was all a lie.
Now imagine being an Astros fan. First of all, as bad as the situation is, you can’t hate Astros fans who remain Astros fans. No one is ever going to take their World Series win in 2017 seriously. It’ll just be dismissed as a dark spot in MLB history and everyone will say it wasn’t deserved. Watching your franchise go through something like this must be very difficult. It’s not so easy to switch allegiances, especially when you’ve spent years rooting for your team.
Players see no Punishment
This is tricky. The official MLB statement said that most of the players were aware of the cheating. While that’s terrible, I don’t know how you could punish players for knowing about this and not doing anything while they are under contract of the team. I personally would’ve liked to see them lose the bonus money they received from winning, but that would never happen.
The official language of the findings from MLB:
“Most of the position players on the 2017 team either received sign information from the banging scheme or participated in the scheme by helping to decode signs or bang on the trash can. “
Courtesy of MLB.com
The Astros Keep their World Series Title
I think a lot of fans would’ve liked to have seen the World Series win be taken away. The bright side for those fans is that no one will ever talk about the 2017 World Series as if it was fair. It’ll always have that stain, asterisk, and reminder that it was a questionable result.
Suspension of the GM
Jeff Luhnow, General Manager, received a one year suspension from baseball as a punishment. He was then fired by the owner of the Astros, Jim Crane, who probably just wants to get rid of this whole scandal as soon as possible.
Perhaps a one year suspension was appropriate since there was no evidence that he knew about or took part in any rule violations. I don’t know if I believe he was completely unaware of what was going on, but if there is no evidence then there is nothing more that can be done.
Official language from MLB:
The investigation revealed no evidence to suggest that Luhnow was aware of the banging scheme. The investigation also revealed that Luhnow neither devised nor actively directed the efforts of the replay review room staff to decode signs in 2017 or 2018.
Courtesy of MLB.com
Suspension of the Field Manager
AJ Hinch, Astros’ field manager, also received a one year suspension (and then was fired by Jim Crane). However, unlike Luhnow, Hinch admitted to knowing about and “disproving of” the use of monitors and banging on the trash can to signal hitters.
Even if he disapproved, he still was completely aware of what was going on and really did not do anything to stop it. If he is unable to act, he deserves to be suspended from baseball.
Hinch attempted to signal his disapproval of the scheme by physically damaging the monitor on two occasions, necessitating its replacement. However, Hinch admits he did not stop it and he did not notify players or Cora that he disapproved of it, even after the Red Sox were disciplined in September 2017. Similarly, he knew of and did not stop the communication of sign information from the replay review room, although he disagreed with this practice as well and specifically voiced his concerns on at least one occasion about the use of the replay phone for this purpose.
Courtesy of MLB.com
Loss of the Draft Picks
This is probably the most severe part of the punishment. The Astros are losing four of their best draft picks over the next two years. It’s hard to determine the exact value of a draft pick, but I found an interesting article by Craig Edwards on Fangraphs that puts a number value on each draft pick.
Here is a link to his article with an in depth discussion on valuing draft picks: https://blogs.fangraphs.com/an-update-on-how-to-value-draft-picks/
The Astros have the 30th pick in this year’s draft. In the article, there is a table that values the 30th pick of the draft at $10.1 million (for reference, the top pick is valued at $45.5 million). So, the Astros will be losing approximately $10.1 million as a result of losing their first round pick. They are then losing even more money in the second round (probably around $3-$5 million worth). On top of that, they are losing their first 2 rounds of picks in the 2021 draft, which costs them even more money.
If any component of this punishment hurts the Astros most over the next few years, this is the one that will do the most damage.
Concluding Thoughts
While it may not appear to be that bad to some fans, the Astros punishment is on the tougher side. However, I would’ve like to see a little more action being done to discipline those directly involved.
I’m wondering what everyone else thinks of this punishment and if anyone has any other perspectives. So let me know in the comments below.
And we’ll wait and see what happens to Alex Cora and the Red Sox now, who are currently under investigation.