Granting players full immunity in the Houston Astros’ sign-stealing scandal was “maybe not my best decision ever,” commissioner Rob Manfred said in a recent interview with Time magazine.
Manfred’s admission comes over three years after an MLB investigation confirmed the Astros had cheated during the regular season and playoffs of their World Series-winning 2017 season and during a portion of the 2018 campaign.
Manfred was asked the “one thing you wish you could do over” in the interview, which was published on Wednesday.
“I’m not sure that I would have approached it with giving players immunity,” Manfred said. “Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment.
“I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us. Starting with, I’m not going to punish anybody, maybe not my best decision ever.”
Major League Baseball suspended then-Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for the entire 2020 season. It also stripped the Astros of their first- and second-round picks in both 2020 and 2021 and fined the club $5 million.
–Field Level Media
Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley brings a red-hot bat into the opener of a four-game homestand against the Cincinnati Reds on Monday. Riley was 5-for-12 with a double, two homers…
A pair of teams riding high after series victories will meet in Chicago on Monday night, when the Cubs host the San Francisco Giants. The Cubs enter winners in three…
Simply stated, the Los Angeles Dodgers are a problem for opposing pitching staffs. The Dodgers, who will open a three-game road series against the Miami Marlins on Monday, are second…
Two of NL’s best square off as Cubs host Giants
Dodgers-Marlins series brings out world of contrasts
Nationals get stern test with series vs. Guardians
Padres pitching will be challenge on road vs. slugging Yankees
Field Level Media - Professional sports content solutions | FLM
