Astros owner rips Yankees’ Brian Cashman over cheating comments

Mar 14, 2022; Tampa, FL, USA; New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman talks with media during spring training workouts at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane is not taking kindly to comments made recently by New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman.

Crane responded in an interview to Cashman, who defended his recent record as GM by saying the Yankees likely would have won a championship in 2017 if not for the Astros’ “illegal and horrific” cheating. Crane called Cashman a hypocrite for criticizing the Astros when the Yankees were also accused of being involved in stealing signs.

“I found his comments to be extremely strange,” Crane told Bob Nightengale of USA Today. “There’s the letter, and you were doing it, too. You were there, dude. What are you talking about?

“If I was one of the teams, and I knew our team was doing it [cheating], I’d keep my mouth shut and just go about our business. But listen, I can only control what’s going on here. I can’t control what the other guys do.”

The letter Crane is referring to was sent to Cashman by commissioner Rob Manfred in Sept. 2017. It detailed the findings of an investigation that alleged that the Yankees had used the replay monitor to decode opposing teams’ signs in 2015 and 2016. The letter recently went public after the Yankees fought in court to prevent its release.

Crane has every right to point out Cashman’s comments, but the truth is the Yankees were not engaging in anything close to what Houston did in 2017. The Yankees GM’s remarks mostly amounted to a pretty lame defense of his own record.

On the other hand, Crane is certainly not alone in suggesting that the Astros were not the only team up to no good several years ago. Unfortunately for him, his team got outed, and will always carry that reputation with them.