Houston Astros owner Jim Crane spoke for the first time — and apparently last — about the Brandon Taubman controversy on Friday.
Taubman, the former Astros’ assistant GM, was fired Thursday after taunting a female reporter over the acquisition of closer Roberto Osuna. The Astros made the story worse by accusing the reporter who broke it of fabricating it before backing down when new information came to light.
Crane has been quiet as the story has occupied the news, but spoke briefly on Friday ahead of Game 3 of the World Series.
“We made our statement, we got it wrong from the start. Jeff had reached out to the reporters and apologized. We made our statement. Other than that, we’re not going revisit at this point. We’ll play baseball.” – Astros owner Jim Crane, who declined to take questions.
— Marc Carig (@MarcCarig) October 25, 2019
That would definitely be what Crane wants to do, but it’s probably not going to work. Beyond the fact that the episode has prompted questions about the organizational culture Crane helped foster, there remains a possibility that the Astros could be subject to discipline from Major League Baseball. This isn’t over, no matter how much Crane wishes it was.
