TORONTO – There is so much in Major League Baseball’s justifiably harsh discipline of the Houston Astros that is unprecedented. The suite of personal, financial and draft penalties handed down by commissioner Rob Manfred, prompting team owner Jim Crane to fire both GM Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch, is among the most severe in the game’s long and at times sordid history. This is 1919 Chicago Black Sox and Pete Rose gambling territory, wholly appropriate whenever the sport’s integrity is placed in such grave danger.
Given that we were here back in 2017, when the Boston Red Sox were caught cheating with smart watches and were only fined for the hustle, some worried the Astros would escape with another slap on the wrist. Instead, Manfred delivered a punch to the face that should resonate with those who want to push the fine line between legit gamesmanship and illicit cheating.
Everyone now knows the consequences, and boy are they real.
Still, more remarkable, in some ways, is the fashion in which Manfred publicly vilified a baseball operations culture he described as “very problematic” in a thorough and well-reasoned nine-page decision released to media. Given that it was the brazen and shameful harassment of three female reporters by fired assistant GM Brandon Taubman during a post-season celebration that triggered the initial probe into the Astros’ front office, that’s significant, and surely forced Crane’s hand in firing one of the smartest executives in the sport.
Can’t exactly bring a guy back from a season-long ban and move forward as if nothing happened when Manfred writes that, “at least in my view, the baseball operations department’s insular culture – one that valued and rewarded results over other considerations, combined with a staff of individuals who often lacked direction or sufficient oversight, led, at least in part, to the Brandon Taubman incident, the club’s admittedly inappropriate and inaccurate response to that incident, and finally, to an environment that allowed the conduct described in this report to have occurred.”
Take a second to wrap your mind around that. When is the last time a commissioner of any sport issued such a comprehensive rebuke of a club’s core being?
He just crushed them.
Then, as if anticipating the Shaggy’s “It Wasn’t Me” defence, Luhnow offered in a statement that he both accepted responsibility and blamed underlings, including, without directly naming him, Alex Cora, the former bench coach and current Red Sox manager.
Manfred made clear that ignorance doesn’t absolve one of responsibility.
“Regardless of the level of Luhnow’s actual knowledge, the Astros’ violation of rules in 2017 and 2018 is attributable, in my view, to a failure by the leaders of the baseball operations department and the field manager to adequately manage the employees under their supervision,” wrote Manfred, “to establish a culture in which adherence to the rules is ingrained in the fabric of the organization, and to stop bad behaviour as soon as it occurred.”
In other words, if it happens on your watch, you own it, which is the way it should be, and for their troubles, aside from having to cough up $5 million and two first-round picks and two second-round picks, the Astros must find a new GM and manager. Considering that they’re carrying a beyond-the-luxury-tax payroll projected at $216 million, losing two top leaders a month away from spring training is rather detrimental to leveraging an expensive roster.
(A tangent here, but John Gibbons makes sense as manager for a win-now team in desperate need of stability, offering a steadying hand the way Jim Fregosi did when the Toronto Blue Jays fired Tim Johnson in the spring of ’99.)
So, examples have been made – something Major League Baseball should have done in 2017 with the Red Sox, perhaps establishing a deterrent then that would have prevented all this – and the real question now is whether it’s enough for the game to move forward.
Discipline still looms for Cora, depicted in the report as the Astros mastermind, for his role in a similar sign-stealing plan with the 2018 Red Sox, and the burden may be higher there given that he’s violated the rules with two clubs now.
Whether Cora can survive in a way Luhnow and Hinch did not will be closely watched, but how things sit among players is even more interesting.
Privately, players have long whispered that the Astros aren’t the only ones doing it, that other clubs engage in dark arts, too. The relative silence of the Los Angeles Dodgers – who lost the World Series in 2017 to the Astros and in ’18 to the Red Sox – makes you wonder if they’re reluctant to cast stones because they too have sinned.
Sign up for Blue Jays newsletters
Get the best of our Blue Jays coverage and exclusives delivered directly to your inbox!
Blue Jays Newsletter
And hey, maybe there really was a Man in White employed by the Toronto Blue Jays to relay signs from the centre-field seats. Wait, that was last decade? Doesn’t matter, better hide him guys, stat.
Seriously, though, how deep a dive to take into the sign-stealing cesspool makes for an interesting debate. How will players that feel cheated out of numbers and service time react? Does baseball need a Mitchell Report on steroids examination into who did what when with electronic sign-stealing? Is this Astros pound of flesh enough to deter the bold and immoral?
Murky, ground, all of it.
Regardless, the rules of engagement for would-be-cheaters is now clear. Manfred has established a baseline punishment to fit the crime, and he’ll run reputations into the ground as he shows perpetrators out the door, too.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kevin Lankinen made 26 saves for his fourth career shutout and the Vancouver Canucks beat the Philadelphia Flyers 3-0 on Saturday night.
Nils Hoglander, Brock Boeser and Kyle Sherwood scored for the Canucks, who spoiled Philadelphia’s home opener and the first NHL home game for top Flyers’ prospects Matvei Michkov and Jett Luchanko.
The Canucks controlled play for most of the game and took advantage of Philadelphia’s defensive breakdowns for a pair of goals.
Samuel Ersson made 29 saves for Philadelphia, which lost its fourth consecutive game (0-3-1) after winning its season opener against the Canucks in Vancouver.
TAKEAWAYS
Canucks: Tyler Myers picked up an assist on a nifty, no-look pass to Boeser. It was Myers’ 1,000th NHL game. Myers also had three shots on goal, blocked a pair of shots, finished the game plus-1 and led the Canucks in total time on ice at 21:54.
Flyers: In another milestone game, Philadelphia captain Sean Couturier played in his 800th career game. However, the veteran centre was demoted to the fourth line and on the left wing by coach John Tortorella before the game. Once the Flyers fell behind 3-0, Couturier was shifted back to centre, but he couldn’t spark the team’s offence.
KEY MOMENT
Vancouver scored twice in 50 seconds in the second period to pull away. Sherwood’s goal was a one-timer off a faceoff win by Teddy Blueger to make it 3-0.
KEY STAT
Minus 11, the Flyers’ goal differential in five games this season at even strength. Through five games they have now been outscored 17-6 at five-on-five. All three of Vancouver’s goals on Saturday were at even strength.
UP NEXT
Canucks: Visit the Chicago Blackhawks on Tuesday night.
NEW YORK (AP) — Noah Dobson scored in the ninth round of the shootout to lead the New York Islanders to a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday night.
Bo Horvat, Kyle Palmieri and Anders Lee scored in regulation for the Islanders, and Dobson had two assists. Semyon Varlamov finished with 21 saves.
Cole Caulfield had two goals and Logan Mailloux also scored for Montreal. Cayden Primeau made 33 saves.
Palmieri and Simon Holmstron also scored for the Islanders in the shootout, and Oliver Kapanen and Emil Heineman tallied for Montreal.
Caufield forced overtime with 2:10 left in regulation to tie the score 3-3. It came 2:26 after Lee gave the Islanders the lead.
TAKEAWAYS
Canadiens: Mailloux scored his first NHL goal 59 seconds into the second period to tie the game 2-2.
Islanders: Entering the game, the Islanders’ 33 shots per game ranked third in the NHL but their average of 2.5 goals per game was 27th in the league. Horvat and Palmieri scored 2:26 apart late in the first period to give New York a 2-0 lead.
KEY MOMENT
Varlamov’s glove save on Caufield’s breakaway 5:44 into the second period kept the score tied 2-2.
KEY STAT
New York limited Montreal to 24 shots in the win. Through their first four games before Saturday night, the Islanders had held opponents to 29.3 shots per game, which was 13th in the NHL.
UP NEXT
Canadiens: Host the New York Rangers on Tuesday night.
Islanders: Host the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night.
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Former U.S. Open champion Gary Woodland finished 54 holes of the wind-delayed Shriners Children’s Open knowing he’ll have his best chance at winning since brain surgery more than a year ago. Best of all Saturday was being finished.
Woodland had three birdies over his final six holes and extended his bogey-free streak to 28 holes in polishing off a 6-under 65 that gave him a share of the clubhouse lead with Las Vegas resident Kurt Kitayama, who also had a 65.
They trailed J.T. Poston and Doug Ghim by one shot when play was suspended by darkness. Thirty of the 66 players who made the cut earlier Saturday did not finish.
Poston had an eagle during his closing stretch of the second round for a 65, and his only sub-par hole in the third round was an eagle on the par-5 ninth. It put him at 15-under par through 13 holes. Also at 15 under was Ghim, who had four straight birdies and was facing a five-foot par putt on the 17th hole when it was too dark to continue.
Woodland had surgery in September 2023 to remove a lesion on his brain, situated on a tract that caused fear and anxiety. It’s been a long road back of making progress with his health, getting dialed in on the right medication and trying to get his game in order.
He also went back to Randy Smith, the PGA Hall of Fame swing coach in Dallas. Now Woodland is sensing the pieces coming back together.
“I feel a lot better for one,” Woodland said. “That’s a huge help. But I’ve seen some signs. I’ve been back with Randy Smith for a couple months now. I am starting to drive it better, iron play, controlling the golf ball like I haven’t in a long time, which is nice. Then putts start going in, start putting some good scores up.
“I’m excited and happy to be here — and really happy to finish tonight so I can get some sleep tomorrow.”
The third round was to resume at 8 a.m., and Woodland likely will start around 11 a.m. That beats getting up before dawn, which he already has had to do twice this week.
Next to be determined is where he stands.
Harris English and Alejandro Tosti of Argentina also were at 14 under with four holes to play, including the reachable par 4 and the easiest of the three par 5s. Six other players were at 13 under and still had holes to play.
Taylor Pendrith of Richmond Hill, Ont., only completed 13 holes on Saturday and sits two shots back of the leaders. Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., is tied for 44th at 5 under. Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., is tied for 61st at 3 under.
The wind has calmed substantially from Friday, when gusts approached 50 miles per hour and led to a four-hour delay that caused the stop-and-start and the last two days being suspended because of darkness. A TPC Summerlin course that was all about hanging on is now back to being a test of who can make the most birdies.
“Conditions will be pretty easy. I think you saw that with some of the scores,” Poston said. “Guys are making birdies. So I think it’s just trying to stay aggressive but also stay patient if the putts don’t fall early because there is a lot of holes left.”
The second round didn’t end until about noon Saturday and the cut was at 3-under 139. Among those who missed was Tom Kim, the two-time defending champion who was trying to become the first player since Steve Stricker at the John Deere Classic (2009-11) to win the same PGA Tour event three straight years.
Also missing the cut were the three winners in the FedEx Cup Fall — Patton Kizzire, Kevin Yu and Matt McCarty.
