MLB Bullets brings down the axe

I don’t think that there has ever been a day with so many articles to link to in the entire time I’ve been doing this feature. There is just a ton on the fallout from the commissioner’s verdict on the Astros’ (and now Red Sox) sign-stealing scandal. And we’ll have to get to Josh Donaldson as well. I’ll try to just post the very best and some things are going to have to get pushed to Friday. For example, I’ll just have to deal with the Diamondbacks trading RHP Matt Andriese to the Angels until Friday. Except that I just handled it now, so I guess I won’t do that story Friday. But that’s the type of story that’s getting pushed to Friday.

Also, I’ll just say this here because I have to count the number of articles I’m writing these days so I won’t do a separate one, but what impact will this have on the push for minor league contractions? The Astros were widely considered to be the driving force behind this effort. I suspect that nothing will change on that front because the Astros had many small-market allies that could pick up their banner in these negotiations, but it certainly opens a window for a team like the Yankees or Cubs to assemble a coalition of owners to stop contraction. The question is whether or not they want to.

• You’ve probably heard this already, but the Astros fired general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch after MLB handed down one-year suspensions for both of them in the sign-stealing scandal.
• And the Red Sox fired (sorry, “mutually agreed to part ways” with—yeah, right) manager Alex Cora for his role in the Astros’ scandal and the Red Sox scandal to come.
• David Schoenfield writes that it’s a sad day when to (formerly) widely-respected managers have their reputations permanently sullied. But Schoenfield notes that the report makes it clear that everyone on the Astros knew it was against the rules.
• Here’s also a solid ESPN FAQ on the scandal.
• I’ll get back to Cora later. But Ken Rosenthal argues that the sign-stealing scandal makes everyone look bad, from the players all the way up to the owners and the commissioner himself. (The Athletic sub. req.) Orbit and Wally appear to be blameless, but we’ll never really know because both mascots refused to talk.
• Jeff Passan reports that there is real anger in MLB that the Astros weren’t punished harshly enough, especially owner Jim Crane, who got off with no punishment despite commissioner Manfred citing the “culture” of the Astros front office as the reason to suspend Luhnow. But many executives told Passan that the penalty that the Astros got was worth it for a World Series title.
• Jay Jaffe reads the entire report and explains what’s in it. Jaffe believes that Manfred hammered the Astros about as hard as he could get away with.
• Tim Brown writes that while other teams took “the high road,” the Astros have a World Series title and your dignity won’t get you a a ring.
• Michael Powell thinks that commissioner Manfred is doing his Captain Renault impersonation when he says he’s shocked that cheating is going on in MLB.
• Teams were told by commissioner Manfred to not make any public comment on the report so the Dodgers, who were victimized in the World Series by both the Astros and Red Sox, issued a very passive-aggressive “no comment” statement.
• Bill Plaschke writes that the Dodgers were unquestionably cheated out of a World Series title.
• CC Sabathia said that the Yankees were cheated out of the 2017 AL Pennant.
• Current and former players took to social media to offer their thoughts on the scandal.
• This is actually an article from December, but I missed it because I don’t normally read The New Republic for its baseball coverage. But David Roth (formerly of Deadspin) writes that what went on with the Astros is emblematic of the management consultant culture that Luhnow came to baseball out of, and in particular Luhnow’s former employers at McKinsley and Co. Roth writes that this kind of consultant culture is negatively affecting a lot more avenues of American life than just baseball.
• Michael Baumann goes down a similar road when he writes that firing those involved doesn’t fix what’s wrong with baseball, which is that the sport is being taken over by people with little to no respect for the sport and sportsmanship and care only for the financial bottom line and the final standings.
• Gabe Lacques compares the fall of the Astros to the Enron scandal of almost 20 years ago (the original title sponsor of Minute Maid Park) and asks whether or not all this cheating was worth the price.
• Bill Baer believes the Astros punishment was both harsh and too lenient.
• Eric Stephen makes mostly the same argument—the Astros punishment was unprecedented but the organization (and owner Crane) will walk away just fine.
• Dan Wetzel argues that if Pete Rose is permanently banned from the game, so should Cora. Which I present for the sake of argument, but no. Let’s not compare what Cora did to gambling and bringing gamblers into the game.
• Tom Verducci offers six thoughts on the scandal.
• Buster Olney lists the five biggest victims of the sign-stealing scandal.
• Ben Lindberg looks at the impact that this scandal will have throughout the game. He thinks this will have an impact well beyond the Astros and Red Sox.
• Molly Knight believes the only way to stop sign-stealing is to get rid of replay. (The Athletic sub. req.) We don’t actually have to rid of replay review. We just have to stop the stupid NFL-style “challenge system” that we have now and just have all reviews come from the fifth umpire.
• Michael McCann looks at whether or not Hinch, Luhnow or Cora could take legal action against MLB to fight their suspensions. (Answer: No, not really. They could try but they wouldn’t win and they wouldn’t anyway.)
• Tom Verducci reports on how the scandal spread to the Red Sox and why Cora had to be fired.
• Dayn Perry believes Cora’s long baseball career is now over. (He thinks Hinch will probably work again.)
• Bill Baer isn’t so sure. While he doesn’t think Cora will be working in the game anytime in the next couple seasons, he thinks that Cora could get another chance several years down the road.
• Rangers pitcher Mike Minor got the last laugh in his feud with Cora.
• Ian Browne has a list of candidates to be the new Red Sox manager.
• Some candidates to be the next Astros manager.
• Whomever is the new manager, Bob Nightengale writes that he’ll inherit a still-talented ball club that lacks leadership and direction.
• Jonathan Mayo estimates how much the Astros are losing by missing out on those four draft picks. I will say that the 2020 draft is expected to be one of the best and deepest in years.
• But wait! No players were punished by the commissioner for several reasons (for one, they were all promised immunity if they testified fully and truthfully), but the commissioner’s office chose to mention only one player by name. That player is the now-retired Carlos Beltrán, who just happens to be the new manager of the Mets. Mike Axisa wonders if the Mets are now going to fire Beltrán before he manages his first game.
• Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich, the two who broke this scandal in the first place, say that Beltrán’s fate is tied to whether or not he was honest with the Mets’ front office when the scandal first broke. (The Athletic sub. req.) We know he lied to the media, but that’s a forgivable offense. But if Beltrán has lost the trust of GM Brodie Van Wagenen, he’s probably gone.
• It’s time to stop with sign-stealing and move on Josh Donaldson! The top free agent left on the market has signed a four-year, $92 million deal with the Minnesota Twins.
• Zach Kram writes that Donaldson makes a powerful Twins lineup even stronger and it will probably keep Minnesota above the much-improved AL Central in the standings.
• Keith Law writes that the now-Bringer of Purple Rain (and credit Law for that one) was a great pickup for a team that should be in “win-now” mode. (The Athletic sub. req.) He says Donaldson probably won’t be worth his salary in four years, but the Twins shouldn’t worry about 2023 now. Law also thinks that the Braves and Nationals will now try to trade for third basemen Nolan Arenado and some guy named Kris Bryant.
• Zachary Silver outlines the Nationals options now that Donaldson isn’t coming.
• And Mark Bowman looks at the Braves options.
• Sad news for baseball as Nationals minor league pitcher Fausto Segura died in a motorcycle accident in the Dominican Republic. Segura played for short-season A Auburn last year.
• And finally, I like to finish with a lighter story so you don’t feel all bummed out the rest of the day. Today’s good news is that former major leaguer Robin Ventura is going back to Oklahoma State to finish his degree. Good for him! But that’s not really that newsworthy on its own. What’s newsworthy is that Ventura is getting into student life by serving as a “student assistant” for the baseball team. Hey former two-time All-Star! Get me some Gatorade!

And tomorrow will be a better day than today, Buster.