The Astros and Red Sox Punishments

[Can_of_corn]

7 minutes ago, 24fps said:

Too much in life is genuinely repugnant.  Offhand tweets about 84 year-old HOF pitchers in mildly questionable taste is very, very low on that list.

I think making jokes about players intentionally trying to injure other players qualifies. 

If you think it's acceptable or even amusing so be it.

[atomic]

Just now, Can_of_corn said:

I think making jokes about players intentionally trying to injure other players qualifies. 

If you think it's acceptable or even amusing so be it.

Maybe as punishment the Astros players could have Can of Corn as their bench coach and he could argue the opposite of anything they said.  

[Legend_Of_Joey]

37 minutes ago, Mr. Chewbacca Jr. said:

Also, congrats to Rosenthal and Drellich of The Athletic for breaking the story. Very high quality reporting.

Congrats to Mike Fiers, who originally broke the story.

[Chavez Ravine]

What is it with amoral Houston organizations screwing CA over? I suspect there are audio tapes of Hinch and Cora chuckling about Darvish not knowing what was about to hit him.

[sportsfan8703]

8 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

It isn't funny.  Not in the least.

Brain trauma is one of the not funniest things out there.

And it's unsettling that someone posted the tweet as if it wasn't disgusting.

I agree. You’re just facing pushback because of the writers’ demographic. If it were a sportswriter from Gibson’s era, things would be totally different. JMO. 

It will be interesting to see how much it affects the Astros on field performance next year. I still see them as heavy favorites to win the AL West. 

[weams]

8 hours ago, Can_of_corn said:

It isn't funny.  Not in the least.

Brain trauma is one of the not funniest things out there.

And it's unsettling that someone posted the tweet as if it wasn't disgusting.

In retrospect, I think you are right. Bob would never kill a man. Bob would not have his signs stolen to the beat of a garbage can. 

[Going Underground]

The Nationals knew what to expect during the World Series.

There can hardly be a more vivid illustration of the hardship that cheating, or the belief that a foe is cheating, places on every opponent than the 2019 World Series. Two months ago, in the wake of the Nationals’ victory in seven games over the Astros, with all four wins in Houston, my colleague Barry Svrluga wrote a riveting story about the extreme lengths to which Washington went to prevent exactly the kind of sign-stealing Houston has now been convicted of.

 

Every Nats pitcher was given five sets of signs to indicate his pitches. For example, one finger for a fastball, two for a curve, three for a change-up and so forth. But the Nats went further. Each of their 12 pitchers got five different set of signs. Perhaps in “Sign Set 1” a single finger would mean a slider to Max Scherzer, but the same one finger might mean a change-up to Stephen Strasburg.

 

How on earth could a pitcher keep so many sets of signals straight in his mind, especially under World Series pressure? Each Nats pitcher had his own five personal sign sets pasted under the bill of his hat. And both pitcher and catcher had to coordinate which set they were using.

On every pitch.

 

No one knows exactly what the Astros did in exactly what games of exactly which seasons, including 2019. But here’s what we do know: The Nats used their six days off between clinching the pennant and starting the World Series to institute a system worthy of “Hidden Figures.” It’s nice to have a smart, veteran team.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/mlb/cheating-ruins-everything-about-sports-the-astros-got-what-they-deserved/2020/01/13/ebea7380-3654-11ea-bf30-ad313e4ec754_story.html?utm_campaign=wp_sports&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

 

[Going Underground]

“I can’t comment on the specific [sign-stealing] investigation that we read is taking place for obvious reasons, but I think negative attention that’s been directed towards the Astros recently is a shame,” Elias said at the general manager meetings in November. “I’m very aware of all the good things and good people and incredible work and hard work that was done there basically over most of this decade to build that franchise into what it is now.

"I hate to see those accomplishments and those people disparaged just by association with a couple of weird episodes. We’ll see how it all shakes out, but there are a lot of positives — the people who run that place and the operation as a whole that just unfortunately is being overshadowed by some negativity right now. We’ll see where in regards to this latest situation, we’ll see where the league takes it. But I hope for the best.”

Elias declined to comment Monday.

 

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-astros-sign-stealing-report-orioles-elias-20200113-bwmglz3bdrcelgvuzgqhi7baem-story.html

[weams]

Quote

“All clubs have been asked by Major League Baseball not to comment on today’s punishment of the Houston Astros, as it’s inappropriate to comment on discipline imposed on another club. The Dodgers have also been asked not to comment on any wrongdoing during the 2017 World Series and will have no further comment at this time.”

https://www.mlbtraderumors.com/2020/01/nl-notes-dodgers-cards-arenado-beltran.html

[weams]

Quote

New Mets manager Carlos Beltran, a member of the Houston team in 2017, was part of the league’s investigation into the Astros. MLB did not issue him any punishment, however, after he was gave the league his full cooperation “and admitted to everything,” Andy Martino of SNY tweets. It seems Beltran changed his tune since the league’s investigation started in November, though, as he initially denied any knowledge of violations on the Astros’ part.

 

[weams]

 

 

https://www.baltimoresun.com/sports/orioles/bs-sp-astros-sign-stealing-report-orioles-elias-20200113-bwmglz3bdrcelgvuzgqhi7baem-story.html

Quote

No mention of Mike Elias, other Orioles employees formerly with Astros in MLB report on sign-stealing scandal

 

Quote

MLB’s department of investigations interviewed 68 individuals, including 23 current and former Astros employees, and reviewed “tens of thousands of emails, Slack communications, text messages, video clips, and photographs,” per the report.

...

According to the report, the Astros’ methods in 2017 and 2018 to decode and communicate opponents’ signs to the batter were not an initiative that was planned or directed by the club’s top baseball operations officials. Rather, the 2017 scheme in which players banged on a trash can to communicate signs was, with the exception of then-bench coach and current Red Sox manager Alex Cora, player-driven and player-executed.

Quote

Elias has made several hires linked to his time working with Luhnow, including assistant general manager of analytics Sig Mejdal, director of baseball development Eve Rosenbaum, director of pitching Chris Holt and director of player development Matt Blood. All but Blood worked for Houston in 2017, with Mejdal and Holt in on-field roles in the minor leagues and Rosenbaum working under Elias in international scouting.

“I can’t comment on the specific [sign-stealing] investigation that we read is taking place for obvious reasons, but I think negative attention that’s been directed towards the Astros recently is a shame,” Elias said at the general manager meetings in November. “I’m very aware of all the good things and good people and incredible work and hard work that was done there basically over most of this decade to build that franchise into what it is now.

"I hate to see those accomplishments and those people disparaged just by association with a couple of weird episodes. We’ll see how it all shakes out, but there are a lot of positives — the people who run that place and the operation as a whole that just unfortunately is being overshadowed by some negativity right now. We’ll see where in regards to this latest situation, we’ll see where the league takes it. But I hope for the best.”

Elias declined to comment Monday.

 

[Frobby]

9 hours ago, atomic said:

On reddit baseball everyone seems to be of the opinion that this was a slap on the wrist and not a deterrent to anyone as any team would give up late first round picks and 5 million for a World Series victory. 

I had no idea that opinions on reddit were so monolithic.   Remind me not to go there.   

[weams]

1 minute ago, Frobby said:

I had no idea that opinions on reddit were so monolithic.   Remind me not to go there.   

[Going Underground]

 

[TommyPickles]

Wonder if Buck Showalter will be considered for the managerial opening...