The Astros and Red Sox Punishments

[Going Underground]

Always found this an interesting take:

Former St. Louis Cardinals scouting director Chris Correa on Tuesday said he accepts responsibility for a breach of the Houston Astros' baseball operations database, but he maintains that the Astros were the team that first stole information.

Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred on Monday placed Correa on the "permanently ineligible list" and penalized the Cardinals, who must pay the Astros $2 million and give them their top two picks in the 2017 draft (Nos. 56 and 75 overall).

 

Correa on Tuesday issued a statement on Twitter saying his actions came as the result of finding out that the Astros first stole the Cardinals' data.

"On December 21, 2011, a Houston Astros employee accessed proprietary data on a St. Louis Cardinals server. Later, I would learn -- through unlawful methods -- that Cardinals' data were used extensively from 2012 through 2014," Correa said in the statement, which he said would be his last while he serves a 46-month prison sentence.

"Houston Astros employees used the data to replicate and evaluate key algorithms and decision tools related to amateur and professional player evaluation. Many individuals throughout the Houston organization, including the General Manager and Assistant General Manager, were included in e-mail discussions about these efforts."

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/18592311/chris-correa-maintains-allegations-houston-astros-first-stole-information-st-louis-cardinals

[weams]

 

[jerios55]

3 minutes ago, weams said:

Cora is likely to get the lifetime with being the orchestrator of two separate schemes. 

I should probably bold the "+"   My main point was that the Red Sox action is likely similar to Houston related to firing.

[OregonBird]

It will be interesting to see how comparable the punishment is for the Red Sox.  Does Manfred dare as severely punish the almighty Red Sox and their national fan base?

[maybenxtyr]

Just now, weams said:

 

I like the idea of not rewarding bad behavior. I have no problems with the MLB punishment and with the reaction of Houston ownership. 

[Going Underground]

This book needs to be updated:

Astroball: The New Way to Win It All Paperback – March 26, 2019

[jerios55]

On 1/9/2020 at 2:32 PM, weams said:

Their Loss of draft picks would help the Orioles. 

Since you mentioned in the opening post...

https://www.mlb.com/draft/2020/order

These guys are quick, no Houston.  Our 2nd pick is #30.  Arguably the WS winning 1st round pick.  Nice.

[wildbillhiccup]

Very disappointed in Houston's punishment. The Coach and GM can both be easily replaced (as evident by Houston firing them almost immediately) and I think most teams would gladly trade $5M and two years of a 1st and 2nd round draft picks for a World Championship. MLB really dropped the ball with this one IMO. The fine should have been MUCH more and they should have even flirted with stripping them of that Championship or barring them from post season play for a season.  

[atomic]

25 minutes ago, Going Underground said:

i am sure that Elias knew. Most of baseball had an idea this was going on. Direct involvement,probably not.

If you aren't directly involved and leadership above you is involved it is hard to punish you.  

[Oriole1940]

This is a case of a Yankee decision, as usual, from MLB.  Quite a unique way of getting the Astros off their necks for a few years,  Maybe or Maybe Not..

[wildbillhiccup]

8 minutes ago, maybenxtyr said:

I like the idea of not rewarding bad behavior. I have no problems with the MLB punishment and with the reaction of Houston ownership. 

Are we sure that was the driving force behind Houston firing them? My guess is they probably now have a loophole to not pay both of them for the remaining years of their contracts. Now they can cut ties, hire replacements, and move on so they're not impacted at all by the suspensions. How exactly is that a punishment for the franchise?  

[atomic]

6 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Very disappointed in Houston's punishment. The Coach and GM can both be easily replaced (as evident by Houston firing them almost immediately) and I think most teams would gladly trade $5M and two years of a 1st and 2nd round draft picks for a World Championship. MLB really dropped the ball with this one IMO. The fine should have been MUCH more and they should have even flirted with stripping them of that Championship or barring them from post season play for a season.  

I think the draft picks are fine punishment.  But I think the GM should have been banned for life along with the manager.  You can't change the past but I think you need to discourage anyone from doing this again.  In American pro-sports, post-season ban doesn't really work.  

[Chuck A]

I can't imagine Hinch or Luhnow being hired with this stink on them.

[Going Underground]

2 minutes ago, atomic said:

I think the draft picks are fine punishment.  But I think the GM should have been banned for life along with the manager.  You can't change the past but I think you need to discourage anyone from doing this again.  In American pro-sports, post-season ban doesn't really work.  

Their five best players have to go to the five worst teams last year. 

[interloper]

6 minutes ago, wildbillhiccup said:

Very disappointed in Houston's punishment. The Coach and GM can both be easily replaced (as evident by Houston firing them almost immediately) and I think most teams would gladly trade $5M and two years of a 1st and 2nd round draft picks for a World Championship. MLB really dropped the ball with this one IMO. The fine should have been MUCH more and they should have even flirted with stripping them of that Championship or barring them from post season play for a season.  

That's ridiculous. This is the harshest penalty handed out to a team in over 100 years. It's 4 top draft picks, and it's the end of baseball careers for at least 3 prominent people.

The $5 million fine, while low, is the maximum allowable. 

There's literally not much else you can do.