Former Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch will not serve any suspension time beyond 2020, regardless of whether a season is played, according to ESPN.com’s Buster Olney. Both were fired by the Houston organization after MLB issued year-long bans arising out of the sign-stealing scandal of the 2017 Astros.
Per the report, this determination was made “because the suspensions are tied to the end of the 2020 postseason rather than a specific number of games.” That’s not necessarily a compelling technical reading — if that’s even the right way to address the matter. Regardless, it does seem consistent in substance with the reported handling of player suspensions.
If indeed this is how commissioner Rob Manfred handles things, then the path will be clear for both Luhnow and Hinch to return later this year — as had been the case before the surprise coronavirus shutdown.Presumably, the same determination will hold for former Astros bench coach and Red Sox manager Alex Cora, if he ends up being suspended.
Whether or not that comes to pass will obviously depend upon whether some team takes a chance. When we polled MLBTR readers in early February, most anticipated that Luhnow would never return to a GM seat but that Hinch would again be tasked with leading a dugout. Hinch was certainly a more broadly popular figure and has struck a much more conciliatory tone since the sign-stealing scandal broke. On the other hand, he was also in the dugout while the illicit activity occurred and did not avail himself of the many avenues to halt it. It is less clear to what extent Luhnow was fully aware of the cheating scheme.
Makes sense. They are not going to be hired by any MLB team again anyway.
yeah, to be honest, the biggest punishment isnt the year. its what it says about them. i wouldnt be surprised if both guys get hired again by some league, (and maybe even Hinch in the MLB) but there are enough people who wolnt hire them to hurt them quite a bit.
I think Luhnow will get another shot someday, might have to work his way up the ladder again, but his success was certainly there, and not due to trashcans, buzzers, ect…
The saddest part of the whole debacle is that Luhnow built a franchise that would be successful with or without illegal aid.
oh i agree on the claim at least, but dont tell the sharks in these comments sections that
Hinch has a better shot. Lunhow wont ever get a shot at top job again, likely wont even get a consulting gig.
Astro’s cheating story isnt over.
Probably yeah, but i disagree that he’ll get hired again in the near future. You can’t really hire a GM or manager that your fans mostly already don’t like. In a lesser role, maybe but who knows whether that’s a realistic possibility. You have to remember he was largely behind ‘Codebreaker’.
People who talk in absolutes are fools. See Timmy Teufel.
@Teufelshunde4 The Astros cheating story is definitely over. MLB doesn’t want to keep investigating this issue.
Luhnow probably will have a hard time ever earning a GM/President job. I could see Hinch having the relationships and standing (pre-scandal) that a team would hire him as a special assistant or bench coach before eventually earning another shot to manage. Of course, he could just as easily take a TV gig.
I see Lunhow getting hired way before Hinch, because as we learned in the interview he did with Tom Verducci a few months back, Hinch couldn’t stand up to his players. As a bench coach, I guess he’d be fine, but Hinch needs somebody watching over him so that the players don’t toss him around like a rag doll.
Lunhow created an “almost dynasty” of a team that was just riddled by the scandal. He will be hired as a GM for an orioles esc team in two or three years. He didn’t endorse the scandal, but he just lived with it. I believe he will do a lot better on his next go-round.
Disagree that Luhnow “didn’t endorse the scandal (the cheating).”
Wall Street Journal story from February which details”Codebreaker” reports an Asstros’ front office minion told Luhnow in 2016 about the details of this cheating plan.
Luhnow knew a full year before his cheaters stole the World Series that this plan was being developed.
Luhnow is universally regarded around baseball as an arrogant, smug jerk who got what he deserved and who, hopefully, fouled his nest to such a degree that no team will want to be associated with him
He’d be great on TV at telling the audience what pitch is coming!
And AROD will never have a job in baseball.
I think Hinch might have a shot but I don’t see him being given a manager role right away. I never liked the Astros but Hinch at the very least passively expressed disapproval for the whole scheme. The GM is probably done but you never know
Complete BS. If the season doesn’t happen, then they didn’t serve their season long suspensions.
they dont get a year of pay. the mangers and GMs are probably getting paid their saleries. a year is a year.
While i agree it’s unfair, they are suspended till a day in the calendar, not like players who are suspended for a number of games.
Exactly. Any PED or domestic violence suspensions don’t start til the season does as far as I know. This should be the same thing
Domingo German’s will be eligible to play in 2021
So basically if no baseball is played then the astros get barely any punishment. Bs
This part wasn’t an Astros punishment to begin with. This was a punishment for them personally. They aren’t getting paid for 2020, and have since lost their jobs, and are probably not able to work in baseball for at least a few years.
MLB sent the message that it won’t just be the organization that gets punishment. Those in positions to stop the cheating will also face punishment, and they did.
So basically if no baseball is played the Astros get barely any punishment for cheating for several years. Total BS
a year is a year
The ultimate troll job lol
Free Domingo German!!!
Yeah that’s gonna be a no from me
Sorry he’s not going to Hollywood from this NYY fan.
Have to agree with a lot of today’s posters. Both Luhnow and Hinch are unrepentant reprobates who stained the game and should never — ever — be allowed to be associated with MLB again.
Hinch gave quite the CYA interview after the fallout began and by his nature it didn’t come across as sincere. But to date, Luhnow hasn’t even considered an apology.
Perhaps some team could take a chance on Hinch, but here’s hoping Luhnow never has a baseball job again. Even in little league.
Player suspensions are in games so they will likely stand.
Will players get the service time credit if the season is shortened or cancelled? If the Astros GM and Manager get the credit towards the serving of the suspensions, the players should be credited as well.
Yes, they already announced a deal involving service time issues last week
The Astros who did apologize sounded like they were sorry that they got caught rather than sorry for what they did!
id feel pretty resigned too if it wss clear
sorry, sent that one early
id feel pretty resigned too if i was blamed the most for something when it was clear the orders came from the top. (as the facts of the report say) oh and, as a Red Sox fan, you’re one to talk.
There is nothing to indicate that the Red Sox had pitches in real time. These also weren’t “orders” and they didn’t come “from the top”, the system was created by a player and the bench coach and then was taken to the next level by Luhnow. Why the blind support for the Astros? They cheated, and every individual on the team made the decision to cheat. Whether you care or not is up to you. Also, I’m of the personal opinion that it doesn’t make sense for Cora to go up there and not continue to cheat in some way, but what the Red Sox do has no moral effect on the Astros actions.
That’s YOUR interpretation … go Astros ! ! !
The Astros traded FOR a wife beater. Biggest scumbag team in all of American pro sports. Trade Greinke and Brantley already, they deserve better.
They traded Tony Kemp AFTER HE REFUSED to use “the system”.
Scum. Absolute scum. You are a moron if you support the Houston Astros. If you like Texas, support the Rangers instead. Don’t support scum.
So did the Cubs. The Athletics tried to. So did the Yankees, and then they signed him for record contract. MLB protects domestic abusers, gives them slap on the wrist then hands them millions. They don’t care, even if they pretend they do. Your performative outrage directed at one team for a pervasive problem that is publicly documented among basically every organization is tiring. Only caring for such petty reasons is almost as bad as those who don’t care at all.
as much as what Osuna did was bad, calling him the biggest scumbag in pro sports is completely ignoring a sizeable number or NFL players. to be honest, there’s a lot of other bad guys even in baseball. Yankees and Cubs both traded for Chapman, yet we dont knock them for it now.
You are a clown. Same story, different day with you.
It’s because they’re just the team that got busted. Everybody knows any team would get dinged if the league actually investigated them. I would guess that they were the most aggressive though, which is probably why they were targeted.
Any team? I don’t agree. A select few cheat, but won’t be doing so now.
Vegas, wild guess here….you scored in lower half of your class on most all aptitude tests, didnt you? Were “special” classes required after these tests? A “special” smaller vehicle to and from these classes?
Got a hunch that’s true.
Wow very nice, thats a really great way to communicate with people. The funny thing is that he’s actually right. It’s far more ignorant to take the approach that “everyone is doing it” when there is no evidence of that. Why would so many within the game speak against the Astros? Again, there is no problem with being a supporter of the Astros or whoever else, but the unwillingness to acknowledge and accept that this is a black stain and, truthfully, the piece of metal from ‘17 is meaningless says more about the individual.
yes, any team. any notions teams like NYY get special privileges are absurd and baseless. and this is coming from someone who despises the Yankees.
Clepto, stop with the not-so-subtle jabs at “special” people tough guy.
tHeY’rE jUsT tHe TeAM tHaT gOt bUsteD!
Please give us more of your clearly reliable insider information on which teams were cheating, I’m sure you’re a very credible and unbiased source.
The Astros should just switch rosters with their AAA org for the next 2 years. I don’t care if the Round Rock Express wins the AAA championship.
id too like my team to get free wins for two years at the expense of a division rival’s fanbase
I know you’re a Phillies fan, and I know it’s just a dream, but just imagine if every time y’all faced the Mets, Corey Oswalt was on the mound. You can’t tell me that wouldn’t be fun lol.
im telling you, Jacob Rhame in specific is just as annoying to Phillies fans as he is to Mets fans. well, almost.
Rhame also got welcomed to the longest home run trot by Hoskins I’ve ever seen lol
Makes sense. Especially for a GM, there is a ton of work that is done day to day regardless of whether or not games are played. Manager also has a lot off responsibilities even without games, though a lot less than a GM.
I know, fans want the Astros to pay much worse than the punishment the commissioner handed down. So spew your venom on them. Get it out of your system.
Cheating bastards
wtf
Now we know who’s behind the covid19 pandemic. “If I can’t manage pro ball, no one can!”
Mission “Covid-19 Dark Arts”
Luhnow planted infected people into major league clubhouses to spread the virus
Not funny, jackasses
these people also think any old trash can joke on any Astros article is funny. true to form really.
Let’s not be goats about this, they both will be hired again.
Luhnow will go back and have a nice fat career working in consulting. McKinsey is an elite consulting firm and that’s where he came from. He’ll be just fine without baseball and vice versa.
Ah McKinsey, where all those “progressive” presidential candidates come from…..
At least Buttigieg had a job before he was 40. Barney skipped alimony checks for years cause he never had a job lol
What I find interesting is the comparison between Luhnow and Bill Belichek. There is no doubt in my mind that Luhnow set out to mirror the Belichek model – control as many of the unknowns in the game as possible. I also believe that Luhnow either came up with the sign stealing scheme or, at best, gave the approval if in fact it really was Cora’s and Beltran’s idea originally. Yet, Luhnow has been villified, as he rightly should be. So the question becomes, how does Belichek get away with it? Is the answer as simple as there hasnt been a whistle blower come forward to dish on the Pats? If there was a whistle blower, would Belicheck go down in flames the way Luhnow and Hinch did? Interesting hypotheticals to ponder…
Wouldn’t be shocked if one or both are hired by Belichek!
Umm hello, Eric Mangini.
Remember Right Fielder Felix Jose?
If I’m Luhnow I’m going to try to become an AD for a college somewhere
I can’t see that ever working. AD need to be able to slap backs and play the good ol boys network. Luhnow seems the exact opposite of that.
If the NBA and NHL come back and play games with no fans in arenas (TV only) at some point in the coming months, then I could see MLB following suit.
Obviously nobody knows when a green light is going to occur, but I’d be surprised if there was no 2020 MLB season (for however many games).
Seems about right… bad people profiting from a bad situation.
*!
Hinch got the shaft anyway. anyone that pays attention knows Hinch had no choice in his decisions. once the camera’s were rebuilt, the message was delivered from above. managers have very little decision making power any more.
In the future, with rise of legal sports gambling, would those involved be jailed? It’s fraud against the casinos. Granted it would only be white collar crime at best.
A career cancellation would.
Wherever Luhnow winds up, I don’t think he’ll take Mike Fiers’ agent’s calls…….
I remember when Braves lost most of their farm system for their scandal with signing underaged kids before they become legal age. It is wrong to do that and very manipulative to the people and the game or baseball. And it goes to show that a team who tries to get ahead of the next team and “cheat” to get players to sign, will face more consequences over a team who “cheats” the players by sign stealing. I think the Astros should have been stripped of draft picks and lose their Top 10 prospects just like Braves did. If you are going to cheat baseball, then they should be penalized accordingly.
Pete Rose is banned from baseball for his scandal. Most of the Black Sox players are banned from baseball for “throwing the World Series”. But guys who cheat the MLB system get a smack on the wrist?
Yes. The precedence has been set for over a century. Do not gamble on baseball games. Cheating to win, you are forgiven. It’s also only cheating if you are caught.
throwing games is much more of a disgrace to the fans and the league. how much of their fanbase do you think the Black Sox lost? probably a darn lot. its much more offensive when your team, even a bad one, loses on purpose then when one cheats to do better. sure it isnt okay, but the goal is to win, not lose, so losing on purpose is well more offensive.
Still waiting on the bosox punishment
These guys should forced to take a ball to the head (while wearing a helmet) vs. a representative from all 29 teams. Fair punishment. The fact that they’re both probably going to pursue jobs in MLB after their suspensions is sickening. They didn’t learn a damn thing.
You’re crazy Four. you really need a wake-up call.
That’s why guys like you don’t make the rules.
What a crock. Those two scumbags should have been banned from working in MLB permanently and they get off with essentially no punishment. Disgusting. Spineless Manfred should be ashamed of himself.
Don’t ever wanna see either Luhnow or Hinch in baseball again.
The front office was generally disdained throughout baseball before the obvious was revealed. Lunhow traded for Osuna because the price was right as nobody else wanted a woman beater, denied the chants from his assistant, didn’t apologize to the reporter he called a liar. His character has been shown many times and I doubt he’s hired.
Hinch seemed to be liked before the revelations of cheating. He can get a minor league or position coach job in a couple of years, I think.
Bang the trash can once if you agree.
Lol what a farce
My question is where in the hell is the Red Sox report? Something seems very fishy. We were promised a report in a week back when?
I think Lunhow ends up in Baltimore with Elias, unless that bridge was burned. It would be a coup to get his experience running the minor leagues at a cheap price.
Hinch will be a bad idea until he isn’t. As soon as a team needs experience, a fan base will be thrilled to get him. He’s young, and will probably get more chances.
I think baseball will forgive them long before the fans. It’s okay.
None of us are in the locker rooms or dugouts, but it seems pretty clear that not all teams cheat. After all, for example, the Dodgers have now been victimized at least three times, 1951, 2017 and 2018. They looked off in 2018 so Boston probably would have won anyway, but we’ll never know. I wasn’t there in 1951, but from what I have read and heard, the Dodgers were the better team then, and they sure as heck were the better team in 2017. Take away the two Astros home “wins,” especially that Game 5 debacle, where the “mighty” Astors kept coming back, and the Dodgers win that World Series.
Today, April 3, Evan Gattis admits the team’s wrongdoing and appears to suggest that Luhnow knew it all, Hinch apparently had to obey, but Gatts says that each player who participated in the cheating knew what he was doing, and did it anyway. Beltran and Cora came up with the plan, but Gattis said they didn’t make anyone do it. Yet, they did it. They were weak or else the peer pressure got to them, or both.
There is no justification for it. None. The world has bigger problems right now, but when MLB eventually returns, I hope the Asterisks are still booed just as hard and just as often as many people originally planned. Since MLB appears too timid to do the right thing and vacate the 2017 World Series title, and have the players return their rings, only public pressure might ever accomplish it.
There are too many talented and qualified people who are waiting in the wings for high level MLB jobs for Luhnow or Hinch to ever be able to return to their former positions with any team.
Hundreds of thousands of people, if not millions, often have to change careers in the real world; perhaps Luhnow and Hinch might each consider this path moving forward.
This is BS! Both should’ve been banned, and instead they’ll get away with minimal to light punishment