MLB commissioner defends not
punishing players in Astros scandal
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[February 17, 2020]
(Reuters) - Major League
Baseball (MLB) Commissioner Rob Manfred defended the decision not to
punish individual Houston Astros players over a 2017 sign-stealing
scandal on Sunday, saying it was clear they had already "paid a
price".
MLB last month suspended Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and
manager AJ Hinch for the 2020 season while stripping the
organization of four draft picks and levying a $5 million fine.
The Astros later fired Luhnow and Hinch, and owner Jim Crane has
offered an apology for the scandal.
Manfred, in an interview with ESPN, said: "I understand people's
desire to have the players pay a price for what went on here.
"I think if you watch the players, watch their faces when they have
to deal with this issue publicly, they have paid a price.
"Having said that, the desire to have actual discipline imposed on
them, I understand it and in a perfect world it would have
happened."
The sign-stealing scheme evolved during the 2017 season, MLB has
said.
At the outset, it involved employees in the Astros' video replay
review room using a live game feed from the centerfield camera to
attempt to decode and transmit opposing teams' pitch sign sequences.
At one point, then-Astros bench coach Alex Cora arranged to install
a monitor displaying the centerfield camera shots near the Houston
dugout so players could watch, figure out the signs and hit a trash
can with a bat to signal to their batter what type of pitch was
coming.
The decision not to strip the Astros of their 2017 World Series
title has also drawn widespread criticism.
"The idea of an asterisk or asking for a piece of metal back seems
like a futile act," Manfred said.
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Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League Baseball, takes part in
the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8,
2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
He added that any disciplinary measures handed out to the players
would likely have prompted grievances from the Major League Baseball
Players Association.
Manfred said that while the scandal would never be forgotten the
Astros can move on from it if the organization as a whole -- from
the ownership through to the players -- accept responsibility and
apologize.
"Not only to their fans, but to the fans across the other 29 teams,"
he said. "It’s hard to deny the fact that is going to be an ongoing
process here."
He said the apology the Astros had given "was not successful".
As for the future, Manfred said baseball would restrict access to
video during games.
"No question we'll have a new policy before the 2020 season," he
said. "We're going to have to live with less access to live video in
and around the dugout and clubhouse."
(Reporting by Gene Cherry in Salvo, North Carolina; Editing by Peter
Rutherford)
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