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Brandon Taubman

MLB Ruling On Astros Investigation To Come After World Series

By TC Zencka | October 26, 2019 at 11:54am CDT

Major League Baseball continues to investigate the incident involving the Houston Astros’ apparent attempt to discredit Sports Illustrated reporter Stephanie Apstein, per Joel Sherman and Ken Davidoff of The New York Post. Apstein, of course, published an article about inappropriate comments made during the Astros’ ALCS-clinching clubhouse celebration by assistant GM Brandon Taubman, who has since been fired.

Commissioner Rob Manfred made clear that a verdict will not come down from MLB until after the World Series is over. Sherman and Davidoff expect a fine at the very least, though the extent of MLB’s inquiry won’t be clear until their decision has been rendered. What is clear, per Manfred, is that the investigation began in response to the Astros’ initial statement regarding Apstein’s article.

As for the overall scope of MLB’s inquiry, said Manfred: “There are a variety of issues. I’m not going to narrow it to the statement or any of those. We’re going to continue to review the situation, have communication with (Astros owner Jim Crane).”

The incident is all the more frustrating for league officials as it continues to cast a shadow over the World Series, per The Athletic’s Marc Carig. Both the league office and the Astros are keen on keeping focus on the games ahead, though there remains an understandable amount of public curiosity regarding any potential sanction against the Astros.

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Astros Fire Assistant GM Brandon Taubman

By Mark Polishuk | October 24, 2019 at 3:41pm CDT

The Astros have fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman, as per a statement released by the team.  The move comes three days after news broke of an incident following Houston’s ALCS win over the Yankees on Saturday, when Taubman repeatedly yelled “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—— glad we got Osuna!” at a group of three female reporters, a reference to one reporter’s criticism of the Astros’ 2018 acquisition of Roberto Osuna while the closer was serving a 75-game suspension under the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy.

The team’s full statement:

During the past two days, the Astros pro-actively assisted Major League Baseball in interviewing Astros employees as part of MLB’s investigation of the events published in the recent Sports Illustrated article. Major League Baseball also separately interviewed members of the media over the past 24 hours.

Our initial investigation led us to believe that Brandon Taubman’s inappropriate comments were not directed toward any reporter. We were wrong. We sincerely apologize to Stephanie Apstein, Sports Illustrated and to all individuals who witnessed this incident or were offended by the inappropriate conduct. The Astros in no way intended to minimize the issues related to domestic violence.

Our initial belief was based on witness statements about the incident. Subsequent interviews have revealed that Taubman’s inappropriate comments were, in fact, directed toward one or more reporters. Accordingly we have terminated Brandon Taubman’s employment with the Houston Astros. His conduct does not reflect the values of our organization and we believe this is the most appropriate course of action.

We are thankful to Major League Baseball and to everyone that cooperated in the investigation. As previously stated, the Astros are very committed to using our voice to create awareness and support on the issue of domestic violence. We fully support MLB and baseball’s stance and values regarding domestic violence. We will continue to make this cause a priority for our organization.

Apstein was the journalist who reported Taubman’s outburst in a piece for Sports Illustrated, which led to a statement from the Astros on Monday describing her story as “misleading and completely irresponsible,” and an “attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist.”  After multiple other reporters confirmed Apstein’s account of events, the Astros issued two new statements from Taubman and owner Jim Crane, neither of which corrected the organization’s initial claim that Apstein’s story was false.

The Astros organization has been roundly criticized for its response to the situation, and ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reported earlier today that Taubman’s status with the team “has been under evaluation” in recent days.  Taubman was promoted to assistant GM before the 2019 season, following five and a half years with the team in various roles in the baseball operations department.

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Astros AGM Brandon Taubman Reportedly Shouted “Thank God We Got Osuna” At Female Reporters

By Jeff Todd | October 24, 2019 at 3:03pm CDT

TODAY: Taubman’s job status “has been under evaluation in recent days” by the Astros, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports.

TUESDAY, 7:00pm: Taubman’s outburst was targeted at one particular reporter, per NPR’s David Folkenflik (all Twitter links). Folkenflik spoke to seven people regarding the incident and reports that Taubman had previously complained internally about this reporter’s persistent tweets offering contact information for domestic abuse hotlines following Houston’s acquisition of Osuna. Chandler Rome and David Barron of the Houston Chronicle report a similar tale, citing two sources close to the situation. Both Taubman and Crane declined further comments on the matter when asked by The Chronicle.

2:10pm: The Astros organization has changed course, no longer labeling the story as “misleading,” “irresponsible” or “fabricated” and instead issuing statements from Taubman and owner Jim Crane. Said Taubman:

This past Saturday, during our clubhouse celebration, I used inappropriate language for which I am deeply sorry and embarrassed. In retrospect, I realize that my comments were unprofessional and inappropriate. My overexuberance in support of a player has been misinterpreted as a demonstration of a regressive attitude about an important social issue. Those that know me know that I am a progressive and charitable member of the community, and a loving and committed husband and father. I hope that those who do not know me understand that the Sports Illustrated article does not reflect who I am or my values. I am sorry if anyone was offended by my actions.

Crane added that the Astros “continue to be committed to using our voice to create awareness and support on the issue of domestic violence,” pointing to the teams charitable contributions in that regard. Neither party’s comment offered any sort of retraction of or apology for the prior statement which called into question the credibility of both Apstein and Sports Illustrated.

Major League Baseball plans to interview the involved parties before commenting further, according to a statement issued by the league this afternoon.

9:30am: While celebrating his organization’s ALCS victory on Saturday evening, Astros assistant GM Brandon Taubman repeatedly shouted at three female reporters who were standing together: “Thank God we got Osuna! I’m so f—— glad we got Osuna!” Stephanie Apstein of SI.com reported the outburst, which has since been confirmed by multiple other reporters — including Hannah Keyser of Yahoo Sports (Twitter link), Hunter Atkins of the Houston Chronicle (Twitter link), and other sources that spoke with Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle and Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (subscription link).

That statement was made in apparent reference to the Astros’ controversial decision to acquire relief pitcher Roberto Osuna from the Blue Jays in July of 2018. Osuna was at the time serving a 75-game suspension under the MLB-MLBPA Joint Domestic Violence, Sexual Assault and Child Abuse policy for allegedly physically assaulting his girlfriend.

At the time that the Astros acquired Osuna, GM Jeff Luhnow stated that the organization “wanted to provide a second opportunity, a second chance” for Osuna. “It’s obviously created quite a bit of conversation in our community and across baseball and outside of baseball,” Luhnow observed. “Quite frankly, I think the conversation is healthy and I think that these topics are important and I’m glad we’re talking about it.” He also expressed hope that there would “be some positive that comes out of this situation down the road” while stating that “this topic is front and center for us as an organization.”

Taubman is reported to have been standing with a group of colleagues about eight feet away from the group of three reporters. He is said to have shouted the statements regarding Osuna about six times. An unnamed Astros employee thereafter issued some form of apology to the three women. Osuna had been questioned by reporters after giving up two runs during the contest, but was reportedly not in the vicinity when Taubman made his statements. Neither were any other players present. Luhnow was not in the clubhouse after the game, Rome tweets.

While the Astros declined to comment on the matter before SI’s reporting was released, the team did ultimately issue a statement last night. (Rome provided it on Twitter.) The Houston organization did not dispute what Taubman said, but labeled the story “misleading.” The Astros claimed, in conflict with the above-cited reports, that: “An Astros player was being asked questions about a difficult outing. Our executive was supporting the player during a difficult time. His comments had everything to do about the game situation that just occurred and nothing else — they were also not directed toward any specific reporters.”

This is not the first time this year that the Astros have come into conflict with media covering the organization. The club removed reporter Anthony Fenech from the clubhouse at the behest of star pitcher Justin Verlander. (Chris Thomas of the Detroit Free Press set forth the long and strange background of that matter from the paper’s side.) MLB issued a statement making clear that the team had acted improperly.

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