Astros punishments: suspensions, firings, team gets over, everyone is pissed.

[Bronson]

1 minute ago, mymerlincat said:

 

[PattyD22]

4 minutes ago, Bronson said:

Is it just me or does this post make zero sense. When do we ever trade away our stud players? If anything we keep them around too long.

The poster was probably referring to when the Angels got rid of Nolan Ryan, Frank Tanana and Dickie Thon 

[mulwin444]

1 minute ago, mymerlincat said:

 

My guess is Crane was not in on it...

[Bronson]

Lol at Jim Crane.

 

Reporter: Do you think players should be suspended for this?

 

Crane: Um, no players will be suspended.

 

Yeah no shit. That wasn’t the question.

[floplag]

5 minutes ago, Second Base said:

The MLB punishment should've been....

- Lifetime ban for the GM. 

- 3 year unpaid ban for the entire dugout staff.

- Loss of first round and second round draft picks for 2020 and 2021.

- Loss of international bonus slots over 10k for 2020 and 2021.

- Loss of video replay booth for two years. 

Plus player suspensions... without that its meaningless IMO.  

[Vegas Halo Fan]

58 minutes ago, Bronson said:

Not really. Thy really depleted it with trades for Cole and Grienke.

The last rating that I saw ranked it #8 in MLB - and this was recent.

[Docwaukee]

I guess I didn't see it coming that Hinch and Luchnow would get fired but it makes sense.  Crane is probably going to clean house of the entire front office staff.  

It would be absolutely amazing if he takes a blowtorch to the roster as well and starts trading off guys that were involved.  

[Docwaukee]

Just now, Vegas Halo Fan said:

The last rating that I saw ranked it #8 in MLB - and this was recent.

I think that was before the Greinke trade.  

[bloodbrother]

Now just need the Red Sox to fire Alex Cora

[Hubs]

Wonder if he hires a new staff? Or promotes Espada? Hmmmm.

Also, I think Cora's gonna get banned too, and then the Red Sox kind of have to fire him, right? They were previously warned remember.

[PattyD22]

1 minute ago, bloodbrother said:

Now just need the Red Sox to fire Alex Cora

I don’t think they’ll have any other choice after what the Astros just did.

[bloodbrother]

Mike Fiers work is done

[T.G.]

I would have liked to have seen even harsher penalties, but all things considered - I'm glad MLB did SOMETHING. I think the penalties are pretty stiff - maybe not stiff enough for us fans, but still significant.

Kudos to Crane for firing both Hinch and Ludnow. From a PR perspective, he didn't have much choice, but good for him just the same.

Many on here thought MLB would let it go on some level. That certainly didn't happen. 

The Astros legacy has certainly been tainted and you can't put a price on that.

I hope Hinch and Ludnow never work in baseball again. Time will tell.  One would think their careers are forever damaged and might be over, but again - time will tell.

 

Edited January 13, 2020 by True Grich

[Drink More Yakult]

Luckily for the Astros, Big Brain Brad is available.

[Sully151]

4 minutes ago, Drink More Yakult said:

Luckily for the Astros, Big Brain Brad is available.

So is Scioscia!!

[Dick B Back]

2 minutes ago, Sully151 said:

So is Scioscia!!

 

[Make Angels Great Again]

You know, if you asked me for a perfect scenario before the start of the 2017 world series, this would probably be it.

 

Astros v Dodgers, they go back and forth throughout, then the dodgers lose in heartbreaking fashion and the Astros are later revealed to have cheated and they get harsh penalties for doing so.

 

Perfect.

[failos]

21 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

 

[floplag]

MLB just conceded the next CBA to the player association, they clearly have no balls to go up against that if they didnt over this. 

[yk9001]

The Astros' GM, manager, and pissant/asshole quant guy have all been fired since the team appeared in the World Series.  Can you guys just be satisfied for one goddamn time?  With the players union active and strong, they just were not going to be suspending players.

The commissioner made a pretty substantive action here.  And since the PA isn't involved, it isn't going to drag on for 18 months with, eventually, no resolution.  Let's enjoy this.

 

[mulwin444]

1 minute ago, Φαήλος said:

Double like...for the meme and the movie respectively 

[yk9001]

1 minute ago, floplag said:

MLB just conceded the next CBA to the player association, they clearly have no balls to go up against that if they didnt over this. 

The owners are on a losing streak against the players since 1972.

[Pancake Bear]

Ok, thoughts after processing the news today:

At first glance, it seems light to me. It isn't in any sense 'a slap on the wrist', so 'lol' to that, but it also isn't nearly what they could've done. Having said that, it appears that they only have evidence of cheating in 2017. I may have missed it, but I saw no mention of 2018 or 2019 at all, which tells me, either a) they only investigated 2017, or b) no one would cop to later seasons and they didn't have any evidence on it. Either way, cheating in the WS is a big deal, but if it wasn't going on all along, the punishment probably makes more sense. Reporters on twitter seem to think this is a huge punishment, for what it's worth.

Giving Crane's firing of Hinch and Luhnow (possibly others as well - have to wait and see), it could turn into a much longer suspension effectively if they're viewed as damaged goods. I'm sure someone will hire both, but it might be a few years. 

On the draft pick losses. It'll hurt, but they'll be mostly fine, I think. It's unclear to me whether or not the money that accompanies those draft slots is being forfeited as well. If not, that's utter garbage. If it is, it's an okay penalty, but not gigantic.

It'll be interesting to see what the fallout is. We've already seen Crane begin to respond, whether he goes farther, we'll have to wait and see. If he cleans house, that would be huge - Astros success is due to their front office. If they get pushed out, their future is a lot murkier (long-term, at least, if not short-term). 

Red Sox investigation just starting, apparently. Does Cora get banned a season? More? I guess it depends. Reports I saw of the Red Sox's system seemed less elaborate, but I'd imagine he gets at least a year and probably fired as well. Unlike the Astros, if the Red Sox get hit with 1st/2nd pick losses the next two years, that hurts them big time. The Astros can probably stand it. The Sox can't. I wonder if they get similar penalties? They won a WS also, and I heard Manfred will be especially harsh on them (whatever that means) due to them promising him they wouldn't do more of the same.

Or what about Carlos Beltran? He's reportedly the one who started it. Will the Mets fire him? Could make an interesting situation. 

Speaking of which, I agree it's BS that players aren't getting punished, especially since it was reportedly the players who were the primary instigators (skeptical, but whatever). That said, I didn't expect that they would. 

One final thought: Love the damage control. Hinch: I didn't really want to do it, but I didn't say anything. Players: It was just a distraction and really didn't actually help at all. 

tl;dr: Houston sucks; punishment is light, but not a slap on the wrist; go Angels.

 

[YouthofToday]

Rumor has it the Dodgers are next. They allegedly bugged their opponent’s locker room.
 

During the 2019 playoffs Anthopolous, a former member of the Dodgers front office, held all Braves strategy and team meetings at their hotel - not at Dodger Stadium.

[rafibomb]

25 minutes ago, mymerlincat said:

 

welp for everyone saying they should have been banned I'd say this solves that problem.