In November, news broke that the Houston Astros had used electronic equipment as part of an illegal sign-stealing scheme. Then in January, Major League Baseball found the Astros guilty of illegally using technology to steal signs during their 2017 championship season and in part of the 2018 campaign. The league's discipline included suspensions for manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow (both were later fired) among other penalties.
The club and its players stayed mostly quiet about the league's months-long investigation findings until spring training began, when they then conducted a perfunctory apology press conference.
Turns out, it might have helped if Astros owner Jim Crane worked to better prepare for reactions from the media and fans. According to Bob Klapisch of the New York Times, an MLB executive said that Crane was warned about the incoming outrage regarding his team's cheating scandal. But instead of hunkering down to prepare, Crane said that the situation would "blow over by spring training."
Crane was way off. Not only have has the issue been the leading story of this offseason, but the outrage has only seemed to pick up with opposing players sharing their disdain for the Astros' actions in recent weeks. Three of baseball's biggest stars, Mike Trout, Aaron Judge and Cody Bellinger are just some of the many players who have spoken out against the team's sign-stealing. Furthermore, some fans and players are upset with that Astros players will face no repercussions from the league. MLB commissioner Rob Manfred defended his punishment for the Astros, claiming that because the league granted the players immunity in exchange for information, their punishment will occur from the public shame and embarrassment.
It doesn't look like this is going away anytime soon, and this new snippet of information shows Crane didn't understand the severity of the issue.
