Astros Punished

The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series. Nobody knew that they were cheating until Jomboy Media, a baseball YouTuber, made a video breaking down the Astros using cameras to steal signs in centerfield during their games. You can find the video here . After this video was originally published, there were more videos found showing the Astros cheating, especially in the 2017 World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Major League Baseball had a huge investigation that ended today in multiple fines and punishments for the Astors organization.

A.J Hinch

A.J. Hinch was the Manager of the Houston Astros when the alleged cheating happened. He was recently dismissed of his duties as he earned a one-year suspension. Many believe the one year punishment ordered by the Major League Baseball association was a slap on the wrist, but no one can argue with a firing handed down by the owner.

Jeff Luhnow

Jeff Luhnow was the General manager of the Houston Astros in 2017. He also got a one-year suspension the same as Hinch. Hinch was similarly relieved of his duties by orders of Astros owner Jim Crane following the one year suspension. It seems as though the Astros internal organization is setting a standard about cheating going forward.

Jose Altuve

Jose Altuve was on the Houston Astros in 2017 and is currently still with the organization. He won the American League MVP award in the same year of the cheating scandal. A lot of people now believe that there should be an asterick next to his name in the record books too, as he won this award under the assumption that the entire team was stealing signs to help their hitters succeed.

2017 Astros Players

Should the players who were involved also be suspended? Players from the 1919 Chicago Black Sox were banned from baseball for cheating. So with that being said, should precendent rule going forward with players involved in major cheating scandals being banned from the league? Currently, no player bans or suspensions have been issued.

Houston Astros Future

The Astros also got fined $5 million and lost all draft picks from the 1st and 2nd round in 2020 and 2021. This could be a potential downfall for the team in years to come. Seeing as the Astros have drafted extremely well, this could be a major blow to the organization's future. In past years, they drafted Carlos Correa, Alex Bregman, Jose Altuve, George Springer, and Kyle Tucker, all stars with the organization and league today. If they are not able to draft, they will have a hard time getting a trade with the right value in return because of the stigma issued from their pulled draft picks. This could be the start of a poor path for the franchise's future.