It has been reported that the MLB just laid the hammer down on suspending Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch. The report states Hinch WAS aware of the cheating, and told investigators he believed it was “wrong and distracting”, but didn’t directly tell the players to stop. Astros players participated or received benefits from the scheme in some way … but he said individual players will NOT be punished
It has been announced that Hinch’s punishment includes 1-year suspensions for both Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow as well as a fine of $5 million and the loss of draft picks. Manfred said the Astros will also be forced to give up their first AND second-round picks in both the 2020 and 2021 drafts.
It has also bee reported that MLB’s Rob Manfred made the announcement confirming that the league found the Astros did, in fact, steal signs from opponents beginning in the 2017 season. The league interviewed 68 witnesses, including 23 current and former Astros players, and found the cheating allegations to be credible, also according to Manfred.
“Assessing discipline of players for this type of conduct is both difficult and impractical,” Manfred said. “I am not in a position based on the investigative record to determine with any degree of certainty every player who should be held accountable, or their relative degree of culpability.”
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