Astros accused of high-tech sign-stealing scheme during 2017 championship season

[Lou]

13 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Like I said, I think the players get to skate while the team gets hit hard.   If they let them off with a slap in the fist, well -- that's a bad look for MLB.  

a slap in the fist? 

[Lou]

8 minutes ago, the dude abides said:

If Osuna doesn't work out for them, this guy has some pretty solid numbers and can probably be obtained on the cheap:

http://www.espn.com/mlb/player/stats/_/id/32562/felipe-vazquez

 

looking forward to the Vazquez didn't kill himself memes 

[red321]

16 minutes ago, Inside Pitch said:

Like I said, I think the players get to skate while the team gets hit hard.   If they let them off with a slap in the fist, well -- that's a bad look for MLB.  

[Inside Pitch]

56 minutes ago, Lou said:

a slap in the fist? 

I watched this movie once and...

[the dude abides]

 

Unfortunately the officers were acting as security and not putting him in handcuffs.

 

 

[T.G.]

Wow.

[T.G.]

Oh...  this makes things more clear...

 

 

[yk9001]

Haha, they are under a police state.

[Taylor]

MLB owners are a protected class.

[Tank]

12 hours ago, Calzone 2 said:

My point is that I don't believe that the severity of the punishment will be equal to the severity of the crime. Manfred will try to find some way to take action to soften the public embarrassment that happened under his watch. He may even hire an independent investigator (neutral party) to assess the situation and offer suggestions on what action to take. 

a good point. you should have led with this.

[T.G.]

54 minutes ago, Taylor said:

MLB owners are protected ass.

 

[Pancake Bear]

10 hours ago, Inside Pitch said:

There's the rub.... 

The failure to hold players acountable may result in the general public questioning the veracity of whatever tough talk Manfred ultimately spews.  That's where the whole "integrity of the game" fluff stands a real chance of blowing up in MLBs faces.  It's a bad spot for them to be in.

Baseball already has an image problem.  There is all the talk about baseball being more boring than ever with the length of games, the three outcome tendencies, and the belief that there is lack of competition due to so many teams tanking.  You've also got MLB talking about wanting to shut down 42 minor league teams and alienating a bunch of small town America in the process....   Now add acknowledged unpunished cheating to the list and watch baseball's popularity take an even bigger hit.   Doesn't paint a pretty picture for a sport that likes to call itself "America's Pastime", does it?  Lol....  It really does suck to be Manfred right now...

I don't like constantly bringing up Landis' action after the Black Sox sandal but he really made clear baseball wasn't having at of it by taking action, even after the players were proven innocent in the court of law... The dude basically said...  I don't care what you did or didn't do, just knowing it was going on and not doing/saying anything makes you complicit. That basically gave birth to MLBs integrity rhetoric.

http://law2.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/blacksox/commissionerdec.html

I know the union is an obstacle and maybe it is too difficult to go after everyone but my guess there will future language baked into the CBA as a result at minimum.  With all the video out there of guys cheating, I don't see how MLB doesn't go after those guys where it's clear they took part in it...  

It's gonna be interesting.

 

Like I said, I’m perfectly open to punishment for the players. My question is just how viable that is. Certainly, we don’t know enough to have a clear idea, but theoretically what could Manfred push through? Would pitchers get hit, or only batters? Would the punishment vary based on involvement or be straight across the board? 

The assumption of course is that MLB can prove this went on in the playoffs as well, and everyone knew it was happening. 

[Lou]

19 minutes ago, Sean-Regan said:

Would pitchers get hit, or only batters?

why would pitchers be punished?  what am I missing here? 

[Pancake Bear]

4 minutes ago, Lou said:

why would pitchers be punished?  what am I missing here? 

Keeping quiet? 

[Blarg]

I think it comes down t0 the management getting punished.

Step 1 Hinch and his coaching staff are obviously responsible for these actions and should all be flushed from baseball. 

Step 2 Jeff Luhnow is suspended from baseball for an indefinite period.

Step 3 The Astros are not only fined but also shares are reduced from the league money pool.

Step 4 Loss of the first round draft picks for three years to coincide with the years they were cheating

Step 5 Vacating their 2017 World Series win and removal of the trophy

That should pretty much do it. 

[Jay]

The Astros' fans will end up paying the price.

As expected.

 

[Lou]

48 minutes ago, Sean-Regan said:

Keeping quiet? 

I don't think anyone is getting punished for not speaking out 

[Jay]

What about the players who knew but ignored the stolen signs because they didn't want to cheat?

 

[yk9001]

39 minutes ago, Jay said:

The Astros' fans will end up paying the price.

As expected.

 

What does that mean?

[Lou]

1 minute ago, yk9001 said:

What does that mean?

thank you

[Lou]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

What about the players who knew but ignored the stolen signs because they didn't want to cheat?

 

what about them?

[Brandon]

2 minutes ago, Jay said:

What about the players who knew but ignored the stolen signs because they didn't want to cheat?

 

lol.

The moral high ground take when potential millions are in front of your face and you have to do nothing but hear a sound in the dugout.

[yk9001]

I just heard on Lee Hacksaw Hamilton's high speed sports ticker that Rob Manfred is going to fine the Astros fans up to $10 million.

Jay had it first!

[Tank]

4 minutes ago, yk9001 said:

I just heard on Lee Hacksaw Hamilton's high speed sports ticker that Rob Manfred is going to fine the Astros fans up to $10 million.

Jay had it first!

how do they fine the fans?

[yk9001]

2 minutes ago, Tank said:

how do they fine the fans?

It didn't really happen.

Lee Hacksaw Hamilton's high speed sports ticker hasn't been a thing for about 15 years.  So when I mentioned it, I thought it would be kinda obvious that I was being sarcastic.

Because Jay says the fans are the ones who are going to end up paying.  The supposed "fine the fans" was a play on that.