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Houston Astros Cheated to Win the 2017 World Series, MLB Hands Out Year-Long Suspensions to Manager and GM

ManaByte

Gold Member

Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch have each been suspended without pay for the 2020 season by Major League Baseball, which on Monday released the findings from its investigation into Houston’s sign-stealing allegations.

Houston also forfeits its first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB Drafts as part of the penalties. In addition, the Astros were fined $5 million, which is the highest allowable fine under the Major League Constitution.

In addition, former Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman, who was dismissed by the club in October after he made offensive and insensitive comments directed at a group of female reporters at the conclusion of the American League Championship Series, has been suspended for one year. Taubman, who is currently not employed by a Major League club, will not be able to work in baseball during that time.

The suspensions of Luhnow, Hinch and Taubman are to begin immediately, ending on the day following the completion of the 2020 World Series.

STRIP THEM OF THEIR TITLE AND GIVE THE DODGERS THE TROPHY. Motherfuckers!
 
RED SOX NEXT PLEASE.
Red Sox will likely not be near as severe, except for Cora. Cora May get hit with a 1.5x multiplier


im no baseball fan, but that seems a bit light for penalties.

a WS is worth more than 2 first rnd draft picks, the GM, assistant gm, and manager being suspended without pay for 1 year, and a 5 mil fine....

it would almost encourage me to cheat
Realistically it as much as they can do. They can’t take the title away. Perhaps more money in the fine.
 
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im no baseball fan, but that seems a bit light for penalties.

a WS is worth more than 2 first rnd draft picks, the GM, assistant gm, and manager being suspended without pay for 1 year, and a 5 mil fine....

it would almost encourage me to cheat

That's a huge penalty for the long term, the Astros farm system is gonna be in shambles for a while. Losing both your 1st and 2nd round two years in a row is a big deal.
 

daemissary

Member
Why does everyone say “they can’t take the title away?”

They cheated in such a way that they had a significant competitive advantage over the other teams...if you can’t take the title away from them for this, what exactly would need to happen for a team to be stripped of a chip?
 

EverydayBeast

ChatGPT 0.1
They knew someone was decoding designs, we knew there's cheaters in baseball the thing that still separates the Astros from the rest of baseball is their roster, I've never seen such a staked roster.
 
D

Deleted member 1159

Unconfirmed Member
They knew someone was decoding designs, we knew there's cheaters in baseball the thing that still separates the Astros from the rest of baseball is their roster, I've never seen such a staked roster.

Lots of teams have insane rosters, the post season is still a crap shoot, and tipping the scales by cheating delegitimizes the whole thing. Yes, if you ain’t cheatin you ain’t tryin, I think we all accept some level of fuckery, but this was particularly egregious. It’s almost crazy it wasn’t caught in real time
 

EverydayBeast

ChatGPT 0.1
Lots of teams have insane rosters, the post season is still a crap shoot, and tipping the scales by cheating delegitimizes the whole thing. Yes, if you ain’t cheatin you ain’t tryin, I think we all accept some level of fuckery, but this was particularly egregious. It’s almost crazy it wasn’t caught in real time
Astros the Patriots of the MLB and the Patriots won super bowls after their scandals.
 

DragoonKain

Neighbours from Hell
Not surprising the Red Sox are also caught up in this. That loser ass city of Boston has done nothing but cheat in every sport in the last 20 years. Man, they are one pathetic ass loser city.
 
That's a huge penalty for the long term, the Astros farm system is gonna be in shambles for a while. Losing both your 1st and 2nd round two years in a row is a big deal.

That's 4 picks, that's nothing. I said 3 years minimum and possibly high as 5 because that wipes out your usual rebuild period. 2 is a light reload for a decent team and this isn't going to do much to the Astros.

Manfred is a punk ass clown. He wants to 1) institute a pitch clock 2)make pitchers face a minimum amount of hitters 3)ban defensive shifting amongst a whole other pile of stupidity and this guy can't even hand out a punishment.
 
D

Deleted member 1159

Unconfirmed Member
That's 4 picks, that's nothing. I said 3 years minimum and possibly high as 5 because that wipes out your usual rebuild period. 2 is a light reload for a decent team and this isn't going to do much to the Astros.

Manfred is a punk ass clown. He wants to 1) institute a pitch clock 2)make pitchers face a minimum amount of hitters 3)ban defensive shifting amongst a whole other pile of stupidity and this guy can't even hand out a punishment.

I think people might need a reminder that baseball draft picks are nothing like NFL in terms of complexity and number of rounds. Baseball is such a mechanics-based and mental game that how a player turns out in the long run is much harder to predict than football imo, and first/second round picks are much less of a sure thing than what you’d see in the NFL. This really does feel like a slap on the wrist.
 
That's 4 picks, that's nothing. I said 3 years minimum and possibly high as 5 because that wipes out your usual rebuild period. 2 is a light reload for a decent team and this isn't going to do much to the Astros.

Manfred is a punk ass clown. He wants to 1) institute a pitch clock 2)make pitchers face a minimum amount of hitters 3)ban defensive shifting amongst a whole other pile of stupidity and this guy can't even hand out a punishment.
Don’t disagree for most. While I see Hinch and company only 1 year ban as light, lets be honest... he’s unlikely to find a job after that 1st year. It’s a 1 year ban that will act as a multi year ban.

Id have gone higher on the fine. Or rather, set that teams luxury tax at 120 for 5 years lol
 

ManaByte

Gold Member
I think the management and every single player on the team who knew what they were doing needs to be banned for life like the 1919 White Sox. And the title vacated and given to the team that came in #2 that year, the Dodgers.
 
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Stripping them of their world series was never going to happen realistically. It's just going to be a tainted championship. Hinch and friends catching severe bans was a possibility though and the MLB decided to let them off easy.

There's a good chance Luhnow and Hinch never get hired again as an unofficial ban, but that doesn't really change things. I liked the idea of rolling suspensions for the players too (example, springer out for 20 then when reinstated altuve out for 20 then Bregman etc....)

Now Cora might be the one to catch a lifetime ban as he's said to be the mastermind, plus with the Red Sox using the replay room in 2018.
 
Stripping them of their world series was never going to happen realistically. It's just going to be a tainted championship. Hinch and friends catching severe bans was a possibility though and the MLB decided to let them off easy.

There's a good chance Luhnow and Hinch never get hired again as an unofficial ban, but that doesn't really change things. I liked the idea of rolling suspensions for the players too (example, springer out for 20 then when reinstated altuve out for 20 then Bregman etc....)

Now Cora might be the one to catch a lifetime ban as he's said to be the mastermind, plus with the Red Sox using the replay room in 2018.
I suspect, but obviously have no proof, that the labor union and soon to end labor agreement plays at least some part in players not getting disciplined
 

Nester99

Member
They should have suspended the players involved too.

Players were given full immunity if they cane clean with the full details, and they did. The players union is a powerful entity. The coaches and executives do not have union protection.

$5mm, should have been $50mm.

rumor is Alex Cora was the ringleader at both clubs.
 
Call me crazy, but this is the best thing to happen to baseball in years.

MLB has been mulling over dumb ass potential rule changes and other goofy shit to attract a younger audience, but what's more interesting than sports conspiracies?

I'm half joking, but really though, when was the last time baseball has been interesting to the average non-fan (this is coming from a big baseball fan btw)?
 

cr0w

Old Member
Cora is fucked. The rest of MLB is lucky that only Fiers came out to blow the whistle.

I think the firings send the right message even if I don't agree with them since Hinch actually tried to damage the monitor to stop it. I also think Beltran needs some sort of punishment.

Regardless, stripping them of the title is a pipe dream. They used the system at home, and not in the playoffs. They still had to hit and execute pitches. The punishment fits.
 
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