Houston Astros Fire Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow Over Sign-Stealing Scandal
SHUTOUT
The Houston Astros on Monday fired their general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch after Major League Baseball suspended the two men for one year after an investigation found the team cheated by stealing signs during the 2017 season.
“I find that the conduct of the Astros, and its senior baseball operations executives, merits significant discipline,” MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred said in his ruling. Team owner Jim Crane said, after firing Hinch and Luhnow, that “neither one of them started this, but neither one of them did anything about it.” Crane added that this scandal “absolutely” does not taint the Astros’ 2017 World Series championship.
Former assistant GM Brandon Taubman, who was fired last fall after taunting female reporters over domestic violence, was also suspended by the league for one year over that conduct. All three men are prohibited from providing any services or business for the league or any teams; and will not be allowed to enter any Major League or Minor League stadium until the suspension ends.
Allegations of sign-stealing exploded when Mike Fiers, who pitched for the Astros in their title-winning year, claimed the team used a system of video monitoring in order to steal opposing teams’ pitching signs.