Look at Ray Ray Run

I edited my post, but this may be more indicative of Alec than the system. The White Sox have done a pretty fantastic job of developing arms so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

Hansen had to be sent back down, not because he struggled but because his AA pitching coach couldn't figure out or tell him what was wrong the same way they could in A+. Pretty embarrassing. Edit; I'll add Hansen is a headcase and this could be more of a Alec problem than a White Sox problem.

Yeah, but you're punishing players on the current roster who didn't cheat or participate. This is why that punishment would never fly.

That's the maximum fine they can levy in this situation.

Steroids were absolutely a systematic team wide system; there's a reason certain teams had more users than others.

They can't ban a team from the post-season; this isn't college sports. They would force an owner to sell before they banned a team from the playoffs. There are far too many issues with doing that; the PA wouldn't want players being punished like that for the actions of FO/coaches who were there before them. Players have incentives tied to post-seasons on contracts. Fans have bought tickets already under the premise that the team is going to compete for a championship. There are far too many moving parts to pull off something like that in professional sports.

I certainly don't think so. As we learned in the steroid era, fans will pay to watch a product that entertains them and they couldn't really care less about the cheating. We may care, but we are in the minority of this.

The problem for baseball is they could easily take away what the Braves gained by cheating - their international class that was obtained by the cheating. Baseball in turn could not take away what the Astros gained by cheating - a World Series - without opening up Pandoras box. Looks like Cora may be done all together.

LOL now it's not even a full year ban. They will be eligible for reinstatement at the end of the 2020 World Series. The report does CONFIRM that the Astros CHEATED in the playoffs.

One puts the financial integrity of the game in question; which, to the owners, is much more detrimental and damaging to the product - regardless of how we see it.

What the Braves did could have been considered illegal based on labor and tax laws - it could have violated federal law if those "reported" signing bonuses are what was recorded on financial statements; and if the earnings are what were claimed and filed by the players. Although many of these players paid their tax in their countries or national origin. What the Astros did was illegal within the game and the game only.

Manfred even released a statement saying Crane knew nothing; at the end of the day, the punishment could never reach the levels fans wanted because ownership groups would never ever sign off.

I'm not sure what you were expecting. The commissioner always had his hands tied as he works for the owners, and the owners aren't going to sign off on a penalty that destroys an organization because they may think their team will be next. This was about as steep as MLB was going to get away with; given that they can't ban a team from the post-season (this isn't college sports) without serious blow back from both sides.

Alex Cora is going to be suspended for 1 year while Carlos Beltran avoided all suspensions because he was technically a player. If I was Cora, I would have a hard time accepting that kind of hypocrisy but he's certainly earned his suspension. No players were disciplined by Major League Baseball in the Astros' investigation. While Mets manager Carlos Beltran was part of it, he was a player at the time and thus was not suspended. Discipline for Red Sox manager Alex Cora is coming. It is going to be harsh, per sources.

I'm not sure you can call it tame. Luhnow and Hinch being suspended for 1 year causes a decision from the Astros. Do they fire Hinch? Do they fire Luhnow? I would guess they don't fire Luhnow, but the question has to be asked. In most professions, he'd be fired. Losing a 4 picks is a pretty harsh penalty as well; especially in the 1st and 2nd round where teams find most of their value.

No penalty for Beltran. I find it fascinating that the players have escaped all punishment - you know, the people who actually participated and benefited from the plan - while the FO and coaching staff takes the blame. This resolution is the exact opposite of the PED era where the players dealt with all the punishment, while the FO/Commissioners office was lauded for their growth of the game.

Astros lose 1st and 2nd round pick each of the next two seasons as well.

Jeff Passan @JeffPassan · 31s BREAKING: Houston Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch have been suspended for one year after an MLB investigation found the team used technology to cheat during its World Series-winning 2017 season, sources familiar with the punishment tell ESPN.

Looks like there's a chance we get the Astros disciplinary ruling today.

Yeah, the team was 24-10 (70.5% WP) in games played by Thomas that year. They were 75-53 (58.5%) in all other games.

For a second I thought this was about White Sox kids camps; I have very fond memories of White Sox kid camps. I only attended one year when I was really young, and I vividly remember leaving thinking I was the next Frank Thomas - then as time went on I realized that the majority of the kids attending camp at that age had never really played the game and I had been doing private lessons for 1 year by that age. Still, looking back I put my odds on being a big leaguer based on those results at -1000; not every chalk cashes! Instead we're talking about people with actual talent and skills in this thread working on their profession. I digress.

Ozzie Guillen may have turned Garland's career around. I remember Garland the top prospect struggling mightily his first few years with the Sox, and at the first sign of danger he was always looking to the bullpen to see pitchers warming and shortly after was always removed from the game. I remember Garland telling a story about Ozzie where he loaded the bases in a 1 run game in the 5th inning (I believe) and nobody out. Garland looked to the bullpen to see no one warming and Ozzie took a walk to the mound and asked him what he was looking at... told him, it's his fucking problem and it's his to get out of. Walked off the mound, and Garland gave up 2 of the runs and the lead, but started the 6th inning as well. I believe the White Sox lost the game, but Garland stopped looking to the bullpen whenever he got in a jam. That kind of confidence Guillen showed his starters ended up paying off 1 year later in 2005 when Garland and the rest of the staff took huge leaps forward. It's one of the most underrated aspects of Guillen's coaching that I think was overlooked. Joe Maddon could have taken this out of Guillen's playbook with how he managed Hendricks.

Frank hitting 12 homers in 26 games was amazing; even more so when you heard the reason why he did it. He had told everyone he couldn't actually run because he was so banged up/injured, that hitting the ball not over the fence was always going to be a single... so for that year, Frank changed his entire approach and simply tried to launch the ball. It checks out in his numbers too, and they are eye opening: 1. Frank had an ISO of .371 that year (second in his career behind only 1994) 2. Frank had a BABIP of .169 (LOL!), by far the lowest of his career. Frank literally couldn't run down the line, so he just dropped bombs or walked to first. 3. His HR to FB rate was 28.6% - the highest of his career, and double his career average. 4. His pull rate was 52% - 7% higher than his career average. What a crazy small sample from Frank - it really showed how amazing he was as a hitter though. He could kill you without his legs even working. Although we all know Frank mastered that art many years prior, with the "flail my ass out and throw the bat at the ball for a blooper to right" method.

The Jirschele stuff always showed the White Sox drive for new-age, but also defined the disconnect between the different levels. Players felt more comfortable and saw more progress at lower levels - Hansen even got sent down solely to work with the A-Ball pitching coach. That was a problem; the team needed to feel comfortable that the staffs of every level were speaking the same language, and they very clearly weren't comfortable with that. Hopefully this upcoming season is a sign of things changing.