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Astros Accused Of Illegal Use Of Technology To Steal Signs

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The Astros have come under scrutiny once again, this time on the heels of an in-depth report by Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich of The Athletic (subscription required), wherein four former employees, including right-hander Mike Fiers, detailed an extensive sign-stealing operation enacted by the team during the 2017 season.

The Astros, per the report, would utilize a center-field camera fixated on the catcher and a television monitor placed in the clubhouse tunnel near the dugout steps to try to decode an opponent’s signs. An Astros employee or player would then at times signal the type of pitch that was coming with a loud sound — typically banging on a trash can to alert the hitter of an offspeed or breaking pitch. Fiers, who was non-tendered by Houston following the 2017 season, confirmed that setup when interviewed by The Athletic. He added that upon leaving the organization, he warned his future Tigers and Athletics teammates of the practice.

“I just want the game to be cleaned up a little bit because there are guys who are losing their jobs because they’re going in there not knowing,” Fiers explained to The Athletic. “Young guys getting hit around in the first couple of innings starting a game, and then they get sent down. It’s (B.S.) on that end. It’s ruining jobs for younger guys.”

Fiers may have been in the Houston dugout during that 2017 season, but opponents on the pitcher’s mound weren’t totally in the dark. Recently retired reliever Danny Farquhar detailed a late-2017 appearance during which he caught wind of what was taking place, telling The Athletic: “There was a banging from the dugout, almost like a bat hitting the bat rack every time a changeup signal got put down. After the third one, I stepped off. I was throwing some really good changeups and they were getting fouled off. After the third bang, I stepped off.”

As one might expect in 2019, it didn’t take long for someone to find video footage of the incident in question. Lucas Apostoleris of Baseball Prospectus quickly found the appearance referenced by Farquhar (Twitter link), and the sound of the banging detailed by Farquhar can be heard quite clearly in the included video link.

It’s worth emphasizing that electronic sign stealing is widely believed to extend beyond the walls of Houston’s Minute Maid Park. As Rosenthal and Drellich explore, concerns surrounding the potential stealing of signs via technology are hardly unique to the Houston organization. Teams are increasingly wary that other clubs are utilizing technology to gain a competitive edge and steal signs, with one anonymous MLB manager telling The Athletic that such habits “permeate” the league and that MLB has done a “very poor job” policing the issue.

The league did fine the Red Sox during the 2017 season for illegal use of an Apple Watch in their home dugout, though there have not been any other publicized instances of league-issued discipline regarding technology-driven sign stealing. The investigation that led to the sanction of the Red Sox stemmed from a complaint filed by the Yankees, which the Red Sox countered with their own complaint alleging that the Yankees had utilized a YES Network camera to steal signs from Boston. Distrust between other organizations is surely prevalent throughout the league.

After the Red Sox were fined in 2017, commissioner Rob Manfred intimated that stricter punishments would be levied for future violations of this nature (link via the Associated Press): “All 30 clubs have been notified that future violations of this type will be subject to more serious sanctions, including the possible loss of draft picks.”

This isn’t the first time that the Astros, specifically, have been accused of stealing signs; a man with ties to the Astros organization, Kyle McLaughlin, was caught taking pictures near the Indians and Red Sox dugouts during the 2018 postseason. At the time, the Astros claimed that they were trying to ensure that those clubs weren’t utilizing illegal and/or unethical measures to gain an advantage. They were cleared of any rule violations by the league. A year later, during the 2019 ALCS, Houston manager A.J. Hinch scoffed at the notion that their players were whistling to call out the Yankees’ signs, calling any such accusations “a joke.” General manager Jeff Lunnow, at the time, told Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle:

“We haven’t done anything wrong. If people want to make their own conclusions based on what little evidence there is out there — really just rumors, speculations and accusations without any names behind it — that’s their prerogative. I’m not concerned because I know how we behave and how we act. We’re not doing anything wrong.”

Today, the Astros offered the following statement in reference to the report from Rosenthal and Drellich:

“Regarding the story posted by The Athletic earlier today, the Houston Astros organization has begun an investigation in cooperation with Major League Baseball. It would not be appropriate to comment further on this matter at this time.”

Asked to personally comment on the matter today at the GM Meetings, Luhnow told a large contingent of reporters that the organization will cooperate with any investigations but declined further comment (Twitter link via Paul Sullivan of the Chicago Tribune).

Cardinals Re-Sign Adam Wainwright

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3:05pm: Wainwright’s new contract guarantees him $5MM and includes an additional $5MM in possible incentives, Ken Rosenthal of The Athletic tweets.

10:08am: The Cardinals have agreed to re-sign righty Adam Wainwright, per a club announcement. It’s a one-year deal of unknown value for the Aegis Sports Management client.

This is the second consecutive year the veteran hurler has re-upped with the Cards after a brief free agency. But the conversation was rather different this time than it was when Wainwright took an incentive-laden pact nearly one year ago to the day.

Wainwright ended up maxing out his bonuses, turning a $2MM guarantee into $10MM of earnings. The venerable rotation stalwart earned every penny, spinning 171 2/3 frames of 4.19 ERA ball with 8.0 K/9 and 3.4 BB/9.

This was surely the most predictable of this year’s free agent outcomes, with the team stating frankly just days ago that talks were already well underway. Wainwright obviously isn’t capable of dominating as he once did, but the Cardinals would gladly take a repeat of his 2019 effort. And it goes without saying that both sides enjoy a relationship that will enter its 15th MLB campaign.

Originally drafted by the Braves way back in 2000, the now-38-year-old Wainwright landed in St. Louis via trade in the 2003-04 offseason. He hasn’t left the organization since. There were a few lost years — all of 2011, most of 2015 and 2018 — but on balance it has been quite a success.

Wainwright passed two thousand career innings during the 2019 campaign. He has a lifetime 3.39 ERA along with three All-Star appearances and a trio of top-three Cy Young finishes. Wainwright has also topped the century mark in postseason frames and excelled all the more on the biggest stage. He owns a lifetime 2.81 ERA in the playoffs, with 9.8 K/9 against 1.5 BB/9, including three exceptional appearances just weeks ago.

While this move comes as expected, it does make for a key part of the Cardinals offseason. With Wainwright now slotted in along with Jack Flaherty, Miles Mikolas, and Dakota Hudson, the Cards can probably rest easy in the rotation. Carlos Martinez and Alex Reyes are high-ceiling possibilities for the fifth starter’s job, with Austin Gomber and Genesis Cabrera among the other possibilities. With limited available space under the team’s preferred payroll levels, it may be that the remaining funds will be allocated to other areas of need.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

Rangers Exploring Top-Tier Free Agents

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The Rangers will enter the offseason with their eyes set at the very top prizes of free agency, Evan Grant of the Dallas Morning News reports. Whether they’ll come away with any major targets remains to be seen, but the club has now made clear it’ll pursue the biggest names available.

GM Jon Daniels has been circumspect in prior comments, but today he was ready to announce the reemergence of the Rangers as a major open-market player.

“This year, we are going to look at everything,” he said. “Our goal is to get better, period. There are a couple of spots more [available] than others. We have signed [top free agents] before and at some point I have to suspect we will again.”

It certainly stands to reason that now’s the time to jump back in with both feet. As we explored in previewing the Rangers’ offseason, there’s obvious need in the rotation and at third base — the two loaded areas on which this year’s free-agent class. And the club seems to have the payroll space needed to make something big happen, particularly with a shiny new ballpark coming online.

In our ranking of the top fifty free agents, we predicted the Rangers would land a notable third baseman and starting pitcher — while factoring in the market for quite a few of the top free agents. It’s tough to say whether the Texas org will ultimately be a significant player for expected nine-figure free agents such as Gerrit Cole and Anthony Rendon, but all are plausible targets. Indeed, Grant reports that the club has already chatted with agent Scott Boras about both of those players, which certainly suggests the Rangers want to throw their hat in the ring.

Bloom: “Every Indication” Dustin Pedroia Will Try To Return In 2020

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Veteran Red Sox second bagger Dustin Pedroia has given “every indication” that he intends to play in 2020, newly minted chief baseball officer Chaim Bloom tells reporters including Christopher Smith of MassLive.com. Pedroia, 36, underwent a mid-season knee procedure that left his career in doubt.

The issues in Pedroia’s left knee aren’t new, and they aren’t simple. At the time of his most recent surgery, it was far from clear whether he’d even try to resume playing. But Pedroia reported feeling good after going under the knife and is evidently still on an upward trajectory.

It still isn’t fully clear whether Pedroia will end up making a full push back towards the field. Bloom said he hasn’t been fully briefed on the medical situation and has yet to sit down with Pedroia. The front office intends to meet with the long-time Boston star over the next few days, while in Arizona for the GM meetings.

What is known, per Bloom, does seem promising. “Every indication I’ve gotten is he’s feeling good and intending on playing,” the incoming top baseball ops decisionmaker says of Pedroia. “I know he’s working really hard to make sure he’s in as good of shape as possible,” Bloom added.

Pedroia is owed $13MM for the 2020 season and $12MM for the ensuing campaign under his long-term extension. He has appeared in only nine games over the past two seasons, and will be coming back from the most serious in a string of surgeries, so it’s more or less impossible to know what to expect. But the Red Sox can hope that Pedroia will be more than a budget write-off, even if he can’t be presumed to be available — let alone tasked with regular duties. With the organization hoping to shed salary and remain competitive, Pedroia could be a piece of what figures to be a shifting roster puzzle.

Enter The MLBTR Free Agent Prediction Contest – Deadline Tonight

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It’s time for the MLB Trade Rumors Free Agent Prediction Contest!  Click here to enter your picks for the destinations for our top 50 free agents.  The deadline for entry tonight – Monday, November 11th at 11pm central time.  You can edit your picks until then.  Further contest info:

  • After the window to make picks has closed, we’ll post a public leaderboard page so you can see who’s winning the contest as players sign with teams.  We’re going to use entrants’ full names on it.  So, if that concerns you, please do not enter the contest.  Entries with inappropriate names will be deleted.
  • We are also collecting email addresses, which I will use to notify winners.  I may also use those email addresses to notify you of next year’s free agent prediction contest.
  • If a player signs between now and the close of the contest, that’s a freebie, but you still need to go in and make the correct pick.
  • After you submit your picks, you’ll receive an email from Google Forms.  In that email, you’ll see a button that allows you to edit your picks.
  • We will announce the winners on MLBTR once all 50 free agents have signed.  We will award $500 to first place, $300 to second place, and $100 to third place.  Winners must respond to an email within one week.
  • Ties in the correct number of picks will be broken by summing up the rankings of the free agents of the correct picks and taking the lower total.  For example: Tim and Steve each get two picks correct.  Tim gets Gerrit Cole (#1 ranking) and Tanner Roark (#20 ranking) for a total of 21 points.  Steve gets Madison Bumgarner (#6) and Dallas Keuchel (#14) for a total of 20 points.  Steve’s total is lower and he’s ahead of Tim for tiebreaker purposes.

If you have any further questions, ask us in the comment section of this post!  Otherwise, make your picks now!

Giants Hire Scott Harris As GM

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The San Francisco Giants have hired Scott Harris to serve as the team’s general manager, according to a report from Jeff Passan of ESPN. Harris had previously worked as the Cubs’ assistant GM since 2018 after five years as Chicago’s director of baseball operations.

Harris, 32, will join the Giants as Farhan Zaidi’s second-in-command after the team went more than a year without a general manager. A bay area native, Harris graduated from UCLA and earned his MBA from Northwestern, breaking into the baseball industry as an intern with the Nationals and Reds, positions that he turned into a full-time gig in the MLB commissioner’s office. In his time with the Cubs, he had a hand in the club’s ascension to World Series champions in 2015, emerging as the right-hand man for top baseball ops officers Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer.

Even with a general manager in place, the Giants’ baseball decisions will still run through Zaidi, who with a year under his belt now has the opportunity to populate the Giants’ leadership ranks with his own hires. Zaidi was brought aboard to be the top dog and foremost decision-maker, and that won’t change. However, that’s not to downplay the importance of Harris’s addition; the general manager, in Zaidi’s own words, will “share the load in managing the overall operation,” an endeavor in which Harris should be of considerable utility: in a statement from the Giants, Harris is credited with overseeing the Cubs’ research and development department, the arbitration process, and the baseball ops department’s financial strategy and planning.

And Harris will have to get started right away. With the GM meetings underway this week, Harris will enter his new post during one of the busiest and most critical times of the year for baseball executives. With the Giants still searching for their next manager, it’s not clear how much sway Harris will have in the final hire, though it’s no doubt a priority that Harris, Zaidi, and the new skipper are all on the same page. Still, Harris could still provide some valuable input: Joe Espada, one of the finalists for the Giants’ job, also interviewed for the Cubs position, a process in which Harris almost certainly would have participated.

The addition of Harris represents the continuation of the Giants’ organizational overhaul of the baseball operations department, which began last year with the ouster of GM Bobby Evans. The organization sought a more modern front office, with a president of baseball operations working in concert with a general manager. In Zaidi, the club found their president last year. And now, the GM is in place. After Bruce Bochy’s retirement, there’s of course another important hire that must be made, and it seems that a decision could be coming soon: the Giants have reportedly narrowed the field down to three finalists: Joe Espada, Gabe Kapler, and Matt Quatraro.

On the field, Zaidi has already begun his transformation of the team, showing an aptitude for acquiring marginal talent improvements in low-risk moves. The acquisitions of players like Mike Yastrzemski, Alex Dickerson, Kevin Pillar, and Donovan Solano—all of which came at a minimal cost to the Giants—played a part in the Giants’ surprising midseason run that kept them on the brink of playoff position despite low expectations.

This, along with a burgeoning farm system and the undeniable purchasing power of the Giants, makes the Giants an attractive rebuilding project for an executive like Harris—more so, at least, than when Zaidi took over after 2018, inheriting a group consisting largely of dynastic leftovers and pricey, past-their-prime mercenaries. The outlook for 2021 and beyond, though, is a promising one. With prospects like Joey Bart, Heliot Ramos, Marco Luciano, and Hunter Bishop anchoring the farm system, there’s some foundation to work with. And when hefty contracts start to come off the books, the Giants can expect to flex their financial muscles and become a real player in negotiations with top free agents.

For Giants fans hoping to learn more about the newest addition to the San Francisco front office, The Athletic’s Sahadev Sharma profiled Harris in March of 2018, painting him as a hard-working rising star in baseball’s front office landscape. Harris drew rave reviews from superstar execs Theo Epstein and Jed Hoyer, under whom he worked in Chicago.

Braves Re-Sign Darren O’Day

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The Braves have re-signed veteran reliever Darren O’Day, per a club announcement. He’ll receive a guarantee of $2.25MM in the contract, which covers the 2020 campaign and includes a $3.5MM club option for another season.

As other clubs plot roster turnover for the winter, the Braves have acted quickly to retain several pieces at the outset of the market. Backstop Tyler Flowers and Nick Markakis were already signed to new deals to remain in Atlanta for one more season, and they’ll now be joined by O’Day for a total outlay of just over $10MM in 2020 payroll.

O’Day, who recently celebrated his 37th birthday, was acquired at the 2018 trade deadline but didn’t appear with the Braves until September of 2019. He dealt with hamstring and forearm issues after coming over from the Orioles.

Though the Braves received only a brief look at the veteran reliever late in the season, he obviously impressed. O’Day was included on the postseason roster and appeared in four of the team’s NLDS contests. All told, he allowed just one earned run in 7 1/3 innings while compiling eight strikeouts against one free pass and four base hits.

O’Day averaged less than 87 mph with his fastball upon his return, though that’s actually only a tick lower than his career average. The sidearming hurler didn’t have any trouble getting swings and misses in that short sample, with an 18.0% swinging-strike rate in his 5 1/3 regular season frames. His full-season career-high in that metric is 14.8%, back in 2015.

It’s a fairly low-cost bet for the Braves, who’ll add O’Day to a high-leverage mix that already features Mark Melancon — another veteran hurler with exceptional command who has had stretches of dominance followed by some recent rough patches. It’d be too much to hope for these experienced righties to return to the levels of dominance they posted a few years back, but there’s good reason to believe there’s gas left in both tanks.

While fans may pine for a dominant closer, it may be that the Braves now consider their bullpen fully accounted for. The organization can tender Shane Green and hope for a bounceback, while crossing its fingers that Luke Jackson can make the results match his newly eye-popping peripherals. Grant Dayton reemerged late to join Sean Newcomb as options from the left side. And there’s a laundry list of less-established hurlers that have seen recent MLB action and/or impressed of late in the upper minors.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

MLBPA Launches Investigation Of Comments From Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos

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9:50pm: Anthopoulos has issued a statement (via the Braves, on Twitter), saying: “In advance of the General Managers meetings, I called around to Clubs to explore the possibility of potential off-season trades. At no time during any of these calls was there discussion of individual free agents or the Braves’ intentions with respect to the free agent market. To the extent I indicated otherwise during my media availability on Monday, I misspoke and apologize for any confusion.”

5:40pm: Tony Clark, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association, announced Wednesday that the MLBPA has launched an investigation looking into recent comments from Braves general manager Alex Anthopoulos. Specifically, the union took umbrage with the following comment Anthopoulos made during a recent conference call with Atlanta beat writers (link via The Athletic’s David O’Brien):

Every day you get more information. And we’ve had time to connect with 27 of the clubs — obviously the Astros and (Nationals) being in the World Series, they were tied up — but we had a chance to get a sense of what the other clubs are going to look to do in free agency, who might be available in trades.

The MLBPA’s issue stems from Anthopoulos’ acknowledgment of getting a feel for how other clubs plan to act in free agency. With regard to sharing intel in free agency, the collective bargaining agreement states: “Players shall not act in concert with other Players, and Clubs shall not act in concert with other Clubs.” In a press release, Clark expressed extreme displeasure with Anthopoulos’ assertion and offered the following response:

The statements made by Braves GM Alex Anthopoulos call into question the integrity of the entire free-agent system. The clear description of Club coordination is egregious, and we have launched an immediate investigation looking into the matter.

It’s the latest chapter in a saga that has seen tension between labor and management mount at an alarming rate. Clark and the Union have previously asked the league to investigate whether low-payroll clubs have appropriately utilized their revenue-sharing resources — the Pirates and Marlins, specifically — as multiple agents (including agent-turned-Mets-GM Brodie Van Wagenen) have spoken of “coordinated” efforts on the part of owners to scale back salaries at the Major League level. Clark has also accused MLB teams of a “race to the bottom,” and more recently raised issue with teams’ early assertions that they’ll face payroll constraints despite the continual increase in franchise values. (The Royals and Marlins have recently sold for $1 billion and $1.2 billion.)

There’s been no shortage of speculation surrounding a potential labor stoppage at the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement (in 2021). The extent of the unrest has prompted the league and the union to begin negotiations for the next CBA much earlier than they’d normally have begun such discussions, but today’s statement from Clark only underscores the chasm that currently exists between the two sides.

Cardinals Negotiating New Deal With Adam Wainwright

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Cardinals president of baseball operations John Mozeliak said in his season-ending press conference today that the team is attempting to work out a new deal with veteran righty Adam Wainwright. It seems Wainwright wishes to return to the fold and that the Cards would like to have him.

This doesn’t come as a surprise, given Wainwright’s strong bounceback showing in 2019. MLBTR predicted just yesterday that he’d return again to the St. Louis organization — with the only real doubt being whether he’d decide to suit up once more at 38 years of age.

Mozeliak indicated that there isn’t a deal in place at present, but discussions are expected to take place over the next week or two, with the hope being that the sides will line up for yet another campaign. That’d mark a 15th big league season for Wainwright, who has spent his entire Major League tenure with the Cardinals. The three-time All-Star and two-time Cy Young runner-up has amassed 2103 2/3 innings along the way and pitched to a 3.39 ERA with averages of 7.6 strikeouts and 2.5 walks per nine innings pitched. He’s also given the Cards 105 2/3 innings of postseason work, notching a 2.81 ERA in that time.

While there was some question at the end of the 2018 season as to whether Wainwright had much of anything left in the tank, he once again proved his mettle with a solid 2019 campaign. The elder statesman of the St. Louis rotation logged 171 2/3 frames — his most since 2016 — and worked to a 4.19 ERA with a 153-to-64 K/BB ratio.

Wainwright may not be the staff ace that he once was, but the Cards no longer need him to function in that capacity (not that they’d complain about an unexpected return to 2009-10 form). Rather, burgeoning star Jack Flaherty has stepped up as the staff leader alongside the durable Miles Mikolas and another up-and-coming righty, Dakota Hudson. Assuming a new deal with Wainwright does indeed come to fruition, that he’ll join that trio and perhaps Carlos Martinez, Alex Reyes or an outside addition in rounding out the Cardinals’ starting staff next season.

Another one-year arrangement seems likely, given Wainwright’s age, but he’ll surely be in line for a larger base salary than the modest $2MM he took on last year’s “prove-it” deal. Wainwright ultimately maxed out his incentives package and took home a $10MM total — and something closer to that range seems more plausible this time around.

Cardinals Extend John Mozeliak, Mike Girsch, Mike Shildt

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The Cardinals have announced new deals for three key members of their leadership, as Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch covers (links to Twitter). President of baseball operations John Mozeliak gets three new years, while top lieutenant and GM Mike Girsch receives two more on top of his 2020 deal.

There’s continuity as well in the dugout. Skipper Mike Schildt will receive a new three-year arrangement that keeps him at the helm through 2022. His entire coaching staff will also be returning.

Last we checked on the contract status of Mozeliak and Girsch, they had reached new deals with the club that aligned with promotions in the middle of the 2017 season. Both reportedly signed on through 2020. It seems they’ll both remain on the same track, through the ’22 campaign, though the word out of the presser was a bit confusing on that front.

As for Shildt, he had already inked a deal upon being named the permanent manager in August of 2018. He’ll now also be bumped out through the 2022 season.

This news comes on the heels of a strong 2019 campaign in which the Cards returned to the postseason by hanging on in a tight NL Central. Despite suffering a sweep in the NLCS, the campaign was unquestionably a success. The organization will face a difficult task to repeat but certainly has a roster that remains set up to contend.

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