/Houston Astros GM and manager suspended over theft of pitching signs

Houston Astros GM and manager suspended over theft of pitching signs

Houston Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch have been suspended for a year after an investigation of the Texas team by Major League Baseball into allegations that the team illegally used electronic equipment to steal opponents’ pitching signs.

Luhnow and Hinch will be suspended without pay for the 2020 season and the Astros will have to forfeit its first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB Drafts, according to the MLB. The team was also fined $5 million, which is the highest fine allowed.

Four people associated with the Astros during the 2017 season said the team used a camera in the outfield to steal the signs that catchers flash to pitchers during home games, the subscription sports site The Athletic reported in November. That was the year the Astros won their only World Series title.

The Athletic quoted Mike Fiers, a pitcher who threw a no-hitter for the Astros in 2015, and three other unidentified people affiliated with the Astros as saying that during the 2017 season, players and other employees would monitor opposing catchers’ signals using a camera in center field of the team’s stadium, Minute Maid Park. The signals were then reportedly relayed to the hitters by someone banging on a trashcan.

The MLB said it interviewed more than 60 witnesses and combed through thousands of emails and text messages during its investigation, which was summarized in a 9-page ruling.

“I find that the conduct of the Astros, and its senior baseball operations executives, merits significant discipline,” Commissioner Rob Manfred said as part of the ruling.

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