The Houston Astros are moving quickly to address a major story Tuesday alleging an electronic sign-stealing operation in the 2017 season.
In a statement, the Astros announced that they were launching an investigation in conjunction with Major League Baseball into allegations that they used a camera in center field and a tunnel monitor to steal the signs of opposing pitchers.
Statement from #Astros: “Regarding the story posted by The Athletic earlier today, the Houston Astros organization has begun an investigation in cooperation with Major League Baseball. It would not be appropriate to comment further on this matter at this time.” https://t.co/0BrDa77VTC
— Ken Rosenthal (@Ken_Rosenthal) November 12, 2019
Notably, there is no denial here. Perhaps the Astros have learned a lesson from the disastrous PR fallout of their initial statement defending former executive Brandon Taubman.
There’s certainly a lot of intrigue here, and a lack of clarity where this leads. The Red Sox were fined for using an Apple Watch to steal signs in 2017, but that was not as elaborate and also discovered immediately. It will be interesting to see if the Astros may face some sort of retroactive punishment, and how harsh it would be.
