THE BLAME GAME

by Holly Horning

It was only a matter of time.  If you think the whole Houston Astros cheating scandal is over, well, it isn’t.

It’s reared its head again because of an impending legal motion.  One that is connected to another cheating scandal.

This one involving the Yankees.

And as a result, the stain may spread and A. J. Hinch may be pulled back into it again.

So what happened?

The Yankees filed a petition to a federal appeals court about an investigation done by MLB on them back in 2017.  It became known as the Apple Watch Scandal that involved cheating by both the Yankees and Red Sox using technology to steal signs. 

NY is attempting to keep this letter, which describes the investigation and names names, sealed so the public can’t read it.  You can guess why.

The Yankees sign stealing happened back in 2015 with similar strategies used in Houston 2 years later.  Decoding signs in the video room and then relaying them via smart watches.

The common denominator with both cheating scandals?

Carlos Beltran.

Mike Fiers hinted at it when he blew the lid open on the Astros.  And Beltran has often been described as the “ring leader” and “godfather.”

Despite the investigation purposely omitting player names in the report detailing Houston’s cheating, word had gotten out that Beltran was the mastermind of both incidences in NY and TX, devising the scheme and being involved in the set up of video replay.

And now, Beltran is taking to the airwaves to point fingers at everyone but himself.  Mostly because he believed that his name would not have surfaced and that he wouldn’t be punished.

He’s now re-motivated for 2 reasons.

First, an attempt to try to clean up his reputation in advance of the 2023 Hall of Fame ballot.

The second?  It appears that he may have made a deal with the devil.

And that devil wears pinstripes.

As you may recall, MLB’s investigation into the Astros resulted in Jeff Luhnow, A. J. Hinch and some other executives being fired.  The players were given immunity.  Both Alex Cora and Beltran had accepted managerial jobs in Boston and NY respectively, but when the report came out, they were fired.  Beltran even before he could manage for 1 day.

A year later, both Hinch and Cora had jobs.  Luhnow is no longer welcome in baseball.  Unlike Cora, Beltran was not welcomed back to his managerial position and has been unemployed for 2 years.

Until now.  The Yankees YES Network hired him as a part-time analyst 2 months ago.

But here’s the interesting part.  Just days after the Yankees went to court to try to keep the cheating investigation report sealed, Beltran gave an interview to YES.

He only discussed Houston’s cheating.  He was never asked about his role with the Yankees or if he had ever cheated with another team.

And he emphasized that Houston’s World Series win was tainted.

Quid pro quo?  That’s what many believe.  “We’ll give you a job if you deflect from our little cheating problem by putting all of the attention on the Astros.”  Or something like that.

Which brings us to what Carlos actually said.

History was re-written.  Beltran put the entire blame on Houston’s Front Office. 

He said that players were never told that Manfred had issued an warning about cheating and that no one had told them to stop it.  That they would have ceased if someone in a position of authority told them to do so.  (And certainly there are professional, ethical and leadership concerns with this last statement but that’s another blog for another day.)

Interestingly enough, Beltran doesn’t define the Front Office.  Does it include then-manager A. J. Hinch?  And he doesn’t name names.

Yet.

The Yankees interviewer never bothered to ask him if he had cheated with other teams.  Namely, the Yankees.

Convenient omission, don’t you think?

The entire interview contradicted the facts outlined in the Astros cheating report.

If no one told the players to stop cheating, then why did A. J. Hinch destroy 2 tv monitors with a baseball bat?

And why did the Front Office sign off on the funds twice that were needed to replace the monitors?

Hinch was the only one who confessed that he “should have done more.”  But the evidence points to others above Hinch who were allowing this to happen.  The players, along with bench coach Alex Cora, continued their cheating because they knew that someone much higher up had their backs.  And Hinch didn’t do more because he knew he couldn’t.

Just look at the analyst who prepared reports for GM Jeff Luhnow on how to use technology to cheat.  The report was referred to as “the dark arts.”  That analyst was green-lighted to continue his work.

It’s logical that A. J. knew he would be overruled by his GM (and maybe others).  And that he did the only thing he could – destroy the technology.  Twice.

And it appears that everyone in baseball knew Luhnow was on board with the cheating.  He is unable to get another job in baseball and attempted to sue MLB and the Astros before his case was thrown out of court.

But now with Beltran pointing his finger at the Astros’ management, the past may be dug up again.  Especially when you’re talking about the NY media and their tendency to pursue stories like no one else. They also protect their own.

All in an attempt for Carlos to re-write history.  All done in a deal with the devil to save both the former player and his former/current employer.  Both are trying to save their reputations.

In the end, I don’t believe that anything will change re Hinch.  But it’s unwelcome noise in a year when the Tigers need to focus on developing their talent and putting together a competitive year. Detroit doesn’t need the distraction.

The interview was just broadcast last night.  Undoubtedly, there will be follow-up.  Undoubtedly, both Hinch and the Tigers may have to weigh in with yet another statement.

But should we really be surprised when cheaters attempt to do it again by re-writing history and trying to shift the blame?

MLB handled the whole investigation horribly.  They should have known that when you allow those who break the rules to get off without punishment, they shouldn’t be surprised when stuff like this rears its head again.

Let’s hope that the federal court system releases MLB’s report on the Yankees cheating investigation.  Then maybe we’ll know who’s really to blame.

And then maybe we can get back to the real show – playing baseball.

Don’t see your comment? Comments are limited to maximum of 3 sentences. Please make sure to check out the other rules for posting under the link at the top of the page.

---

What did you miss on our Twitter feed yesterday?

• Who made the national ranking of Top 10 1st-year players to watch?

• Why are the Tigers back in the trade market?

Why should you follow Totally Tigers https://twitter.com/totallytigersbb on Twitter?

• We tweet out breaking news before it’s published in the sports pages. The best news from the best sources.
• Want more than 1 Totally Tigers fix every day? How about throughout the day?