You Might Wanna Sit Down For This, But The Astros’ Ex-GM Says They Still Employ Cheaters

The 53-year-old — who was fired for his alleged role in the team’s 2017 sign-stealing scandal — made the revelation in a lengthy interview with KPRC 2 that aired Monday.

“It’s pretty clear who was involved in the video decoding scheme, when it started, how often it happened, and basically when it ended,” Luhnow said.

“And it’s also pretty clear who was not involved. And I don’t know why that information, that evidence, wasn’t discussed in the ruling, wasn’t used.”

Luhnow continued, “The people who were involved that didn’t leave naturally to go to other teams are all still employed by the Astros.”

In fact, Luhnow claims one of the “intimately involved” cheaters that he had demoted during his time as GM was actually re-promoted in the aftermath of MLB’s punishments.

“None of those people faced any repercussions,” Luhnow said. “They weren’t discussed in the report, but the evidence is all there that they were involved.”

via TMZ Sports

Hold on. You mean to tell me that the team that got caught for cheating in 2017, 2018 and parts of 2019, who only got rid of the manager and GM who, per the Commissioner’s report, had no direct role in the scandal is still employing cheaters within their franchise? Well color me shocked.

Maybe it’s because after the biggest cheating scandal since the 1919 Black Sox, that gap-toothed commissioner gave immunity to everyone involved just to learn the truth. Great tactic, Bob. Let’s hope he never gets a job in our country’s justice department. الرهان الرياضي

And now Jeff Lunhow is saying everyone still involved is still with the team, and on top of that, one clubhouse attendant who was directly involved – who Lunhow demoted from the clubhouse – was immediately promoted back to his clubhouse role after Lunhow was fired. Sketch? Of course. But is there anything this franchise does that isn’t sketchy anymore?

I mean this year’s team finished the 60-game regular season 2 games under .500, hit terribly as an entire team, and squeaked into the postseason, and then just all of a sudden decided to turn it on.

Carlos Correa’s batting average alone jumped up a full .100 points from the regular season to the postseason this year. Hmmm. The point here isn’t whether they cheated again – which we can no longer put past them – the point is the fact that they’ll never be able to accomplish anything without us taking it with a grain of salt. And speaking of a grain of salt, Jose Altive is the size of one, but also, the Astros (and their obnoxiously loud fans) can get salty as they want. But this is the truth.

They can argue, “Don’t most people respect the Patriots franchise? They were punished for cheating three separate times!” That is true. But not one of those times did Bill Belichick, Tom Brady, or anyone on staff directly admit to cheating. Even with Deflategate when Tom smashed his phone before the NFL got to it, he never officially admitted to any wrong doing. موقع كازينو 888 Heck, even their latest instance – filming the Bengals sideline last year – the camera guy claimed he was shooting footage for a documentary. The Astros, on the other hand, all admitted to the plot, all for the trade off of immunity. So the reason we know they cheated came directly from their own mouths.

Which means as long as the core of this team is put together, we will never trust a single accomplishment they ever achieve. Not that they need our justification or approval, but what good is winning if there’s no respect that comes with it?

And just in case you needed further evidence of how poor Rob Manfred has done as the commissioner of baseball, just hear Lunhow talk about how the investigation went down.

“I think the investigation was not attempting to really uncover who did what, and who was really responsible,” Luhnow said. “The goal of the investigation was to deliver punishments that Rob could feel good about and that would calm the panic.”

Jeff added, “They had to create a case they felt good enough about in order to punish me.”

Reading these quotes out of context may just make Lunhow seem like an ex-GM who’s butt hurt he’s now out of work. Which I’m sure he is. But if you watch the interview, he backs up this claim more than these two sentences. MLB wasn’t looking to punish players, but they still had to make someone fall just to appease the Dodgers, Yankees, and other MLB teams who were furious. So they went after the manager and GM – who they claimed in their own report – did not exactly have direct knowledge of the instance. LOL. Lunhow also claimed an investigator admitted that the investigation was extended two weeks with the sole motive of finding incriminating evidence on Jeff Lunhow, which they never technically did.

No matter how much you hate the Astros, you do have to acknowledge this is turning into a he-said, she-said instance. Which means the only thing we’ll have is who’s side are we going to agree with. And after watching the entire 35-minute video (no really, I did. I do the heavy lifting so you don’t have to), I think Jeff Lunhow is telling the truth here. He gave very specific evidence, made valid points, and did not appear fidgety. Nor did he get aggressively defensive at one point in the entire half-hour interview. *cough* Carlos Correa *cough*

Lunhow does express love for the Astros in the interview and talked fondly of the 2017 season, no matter how tainted we all view it. He also admitted that he still roots for them to win, which I can understand. He built this franchise from the laughing stock of the league in 2011 to annual playoff cheaters contenders in about 5 years. So this isn’t a Mike Fiers situation where he’s trying to burn every bridge.

All in all, the Astros are still gainfully employing players and staff who were the masterminds behind the most elaborate cheating scandal in the history of baseball. لعبة روليت مجانا Sure, we make jokes about it all the time. But this fact should not be lost in all the jokes and (for lack of a better term) trash talk.

Look, the fact that we should just all expect the Astros to never cheat or bend the rules ever again would just be naive on our part. Once a cheater, always a cheater. That phrase isn’t just true in witty rom-coms or amongst girlfriends sharing cocktails, it’s true in sports too. As long as there is competition, there will be those who try to gain competitive advantage – whether legal or not. And the Astros are that team. It’s just a shame the sport doesn’t have a competent commissioner who can properly distribute justice for the actions that has tainted his sport.

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For the backstory on the entire saga, watch this: