Bregman, Altuve issue apologies for sign-stealing

Two of the Houston Astros’ top hitters, third baseman Alex Bregman and second baseman Jose Altuve, issued apologies for their role in a sign-stealing plot that led to the dismissal of manager AJ Hinch and general manager Jeffrey Luhnow.

“I have some brief remarks I’d like to share with y’all. I’m really sorry about the choices that were made by my team, by the organization and by me,” Bregman said Thursday, reading from a statement. “I’ve learned from this and I hope to regain the trust of baseball fans. I would also like to thank the Astros’ fans for all of their support. We as a team are totally focused on moving forward to the 2020 season.”

Altuve, the 2017 American League MVP, and Bregman spoke for a combined one minute, 24 seconds and did not directly address their role in the scandal.

“We had a great team meeting last night. And I want to say the whole Astros organization and the team feels bad about what happened in 2017,” Altuve said. “We especially feel remorse for the impact on our fans and the game of baseball.”

Astros owner Jim Crane blamed the team’s leadership for failing its players. Major League Baseball said in its investigation that the scheme was player-driven.

“These are a great group of guys who did not receive proper guidance from their leaders,” he said.

Several MLB players have come forward to share their disdain for the cheating scandal. New York Yankees reliever Aroldis Chapman said the team feels “cheated” after two playoff series losses to the Astros.

Astros pitcher Lance McCullers said: “There were a lot of things that I think guys aren’t going to get into, as far as that (2017) season and that post-season. But I can stand here and firmly believe that we earned that championship.”