MLB checking into report ’17 Astros stole signs, broke rules
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> Major League Baseball has expanded its investigation into the Houston Astros after The Athletic website reported the team stole signs during home games in 2017 by using a camera positioned in center field.
The report Tuesday quoted pitcher Mike Fiers, who played for the Astros that season, and three other unidentified people with the club. The Astros won the World Series that year — two sources told The Athletic Houston used the system into the playoffs while another source said the system ended before the postseason.
The website said the process was started by a struggling hitter and a coach, neither of whom was identified. The camera at Minute Maid Park was connected to a television monitor in the tunnel between the Astros’ dugout and clubhouse, The Athletic said, and team employees or players would communicate expected pitches by banging a trash can to signal off-speed pitches.
The Astros said in a statement the team
“has begun an investigation in cooperation with Major League Baseball” and declined additional comment.
Houston general manager Jeff Luhnow declined to talk about specifics.
“We take the allegation seriously and we’re going to look into it. If you’re not following the rules, it’s a serious matter,” he said Tuesday at the annual GM meetings.
Luhnow said he hoped the allegations wouldn’t put a damper on Houston’s recent run of success, which includes the team’s first World Series title in 2017 and an AL pennant this season.
“Teams are competing with one another and everybody’s trying to find an edge,” Luhnow said. “But we all have to follow the rules and the rules are set by Major League Baseball. We all agree to follow them and if you don’t there’s ramifications to that. We want to follow the rules and we want to compete and win. That’s what every other club does, as well.”
Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said there was “scuttlebutt” that the Astros were stealing signs during the 2017 World Series, but “we certainly did not know anything definitive at the time.” The Dodgers lost to the Astros in seven games.
Success of Nats, Astros puts attention on starters
SCOTTSDALE, ARIZ. >> Washington went against baseball’s trend toward bulked-up bullpens, dedicating 39 percent of its payroll to three starting pitchers: Max Scherzer, Stephen Strasburg and Patrick Corbin. The trio triumphed, lifting the Nationals to the first World Series title in the team’s 51-season history,
Houston came within one win of its second championship in three seasons, led by a rotation headed by Gerrit Cole, Justin Verlander and Zack Greinke.
In a sport of copycats, will rotation arms regain prominence throughout the major leagues? Starting pitchers averaged 5.2 innings this year, the lowest since baseballreference’s figures began in 1925.
“If people are copying us, then we must be doing something right,” Nationals general manager Mike Rizzo said. “Starting pitching has been our philosophy. Hopefully we’re going to continue to utilize that formula for continued success.”
And for every successful free-agent deal, there are ones that don’t turn out to be worth it, especially after high-salaried players enter their late 30s.
“Pitching is fragile,” Phillies GM Matt Klentak said. “If you’re relying on free-agent starting pitching to build your organization, you go into that knowing that you may be left disappointed at some point in the contract.”
Cards agree to deal with Wainwright
ST. LOUIS >> The Cardinals and Adam Wainwright have agreed to a contract for the 2020 season, increasing the likelihood the veteran pitcher finishes his career with the only major league team for which he has ever played.
Wainwright, 38, played last season on a $2 million deal and proved he was still effective, going 14-10 with a 4.19 ERA.