Astros history will never be the same
Assessing the fallout of the Astros' Black Monday
Jan 14, 2020, 6:55 am
Astros history will never be the same
Houston now has to find replacements for Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow
Black Monday is typically the name given to the day following the conclusion of the NFL's regular season, the day many teams announce the firings of head coaches as a result of disappointing performances. There is no equivalent of that in the MLB, as managers and members of a club's front office typically come and go sporadically throughout the year. Still, whether you agree with the events that transpired or not, Monday, January 13, 2020, will go down as a stain on the Houston Astros franchise.
Many expected the MLB and its commissioner to send a message through their punishment of the Houston Astros once they completed their investigation into 2017 sign-stealing. Nonetheless, the reports that surfaced on Monday afternoon still sent shockwaves through the sport.
The penalties included 1-year suspensions of Manager A.J. Hinch and GM Jeff Luhnow, along with the loss of first and second-round draft picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts, and a fine of $5 million, the most allowable in the sport's current constitution. The spectrum of reactions to the news was broad, ranging from being too harsh towards Houston to not being severe enough.
It came as no surprise, given Manfred's stance that he would hold a team's General Manager and Field Manager accountable for infractions of this kind, that he dealt the disciplines specifically to Luhnow and Hinch. It was a way to make a statement while avoiding the nearly impossible task of trying to narrow the scope of the investigation to individual players and the complexity that would come with trying to enforce those penalties.
Shortly after the MLB announced commissioner Rob Manfred's statement and the subsequent actions, Astros owner Jim Crane called for a press conference to expand things further. He went several steps farther than the MLB, firing both Hinch and Luhnow for their lack of intervention into the scandal, which had the team in turmoil.
While Crane was rightfully displeased with his GM and Manager, completely severing ties with them was a drastic statement, especially considering the commissioner's report which concluded that neither directly took part in the sign-stealing, and in fact, had this to say about Hinch's involvement:
"Hinch neither devised the banging scheme nor participated in it. Hinch told my investigators that he did not support his players decoding signs using the monitor installed near the dugout and banging the trash can, and he believed that the conduct was both wrong and distracting. Hinch attempted to signal his disapproval of the scheme by physically damaging the monitor on two occasions, necessitating its replacement."
In regards to Luhnow, the investigation did not find any evidence that he directed or was involved in the team's cheating, and instead spoke to the mishandling of his GM duties:
"At least in my view, the baseball operations department's insular culture – one that valued and rewarded results over other considerations, combined with a staff of individuals who often lacked direction or sufficient oversight, led, at least in part, to the Brandon Taubman incident, the Club's admittedly inappropriate and inaccurate response to that incident, and finally, to an environment that allowed the conduct described in this report to have occurred."
You can read the full report here: Commissioner Rob Manfred's Report on Astros 2017 sign-stealing
Things escalated rapidly for the duo of Hinch and Luhnow, who went from learning about and starting to deal with an upcoming year of being suspended from their team to not having a team at all as Crane decided to clean house. It's no question that while the "it starts at the top" approach is valid, completely ending the tenures of two of the most influential members of franchise history is startling, to say the least.
Yet, although no current or former Astros players will receive formal discipline from the league, the damage has been done. Like it or not, the 2017 championship season has been disgraced. Whether it materially affected the outcome of the season is no matter, the league confirmed the cheating, and that will be enough to alter the story surrounding the year that brought the city of Houston it's first long-awaited World Series victory.
While we may never know the extent any specific player took part in the cheating, the league and its fans will now question the integrity of each player and judge them in the court of public opinion. The team formerly regarded as the feel-good story of 2017 by putting a city on their back after the wake of Hurricane Harvey will now be known as the team that cheated their way to a championship.
While many will want to get back to baseball after these events, that may not be easy for the 2020 Astros. Not only will they have to find someone to be Manager and GM, but they will have to go up against potentially hyper-motivated opponents looking for revenge from years past.
Outside of the opposing players themselves, the Astros will also undoubtedly face harsh terrain in road stadiums, where fans will be vocal about their newfound opposition to the team. Does the roster have the ability to overcome that and still put together a strong season? Yes, but they now face uncharted territory as they assume their role as the new villains of the MLB, a role that few would have expected during the euphoric parade on the downtown streets of Houston a little over two years ago.
Yordan Alvarez’s hand injury is worse than it originally appeared.
The Houston slugger felt pain in his right hand on Friday while hitting and a small fracture that was previously believed to be a muscle strain was discovered. The fracture is about 60% healed.
General manager Dana Brown said he believes the fracture in Alvarez’s fourth metacarpal wasn’t discovered in initial imaging on May 6 because there was too much inflammation and fluid.
Alvarez has been out since May 3 with the injury. They had hoped he could come off the injured list this weekend.
“The immediate plan for him right now is to just let it rest,” Brown said. “And he’ll still continue to do other baseball activity like the running, he could probably go out in the outfield and catch. He can do everything else except for pick up a bat. And so, we don’t even want him hitting off tees even though he feels good enough to hit off a tee. Just let it heal completely and then you’ll be back.”
Since Friday’s imaging showed that the fracture was already more than halfway healed, Brown doesn’t believe it will keep him out too much longer.
“We’re hopeful that because he’s healed so much that ... he’ll be back sooner rather than later,” Brown said.
Alvarez was asked when he expects to return.
“I wish I had a magic ball to tell you,” he said in Spanish through a translator. “The good news is that it’s healing well, but I need rest because the fact that I was keeping on doing swings, it was taking it back, taking it (longer) to heal.”
Brown added that they think the fracture occurred when Alvarez tried to play through the initial muscle strain. Brown said he played for almost two weeks after initially noticing the problem before the first imaging was done.
“The muscle strain was real,” Brown said. “I really think that when he was fighting through those weeks knowing that it wasn’t the same feeling as some of his hand problems in the past ... maybe that’s when he may have caused a little bit more damage.”
Alvarez hit .210 with three home runs and 18 RBIs in 29 games this season before landing on the injured list.