Within the scope of the punishment levied against the Houston Astros by MLB, one issue is sort of set aside — the 2020 Houston Astros are, on paper, a pretty damn good baseball team.
The purpose of this missive isn’t to spend time debating the penalties. If anything, $5 million and the loss of four highly coveted draft picks in 2020 and 2021 is a bit on the lenient side. That is, until you factor in the one-year suspensions of general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, both of whom were subsequently fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.
Players play the games, but a GM and manager are the heart and soul of the day-to-day drip of activity that goes into roster building and player development. As skilled as Luhnow was in building up the Astros, the key job in Houston is now in the dugout. The next manager will have to be as skilled in public relations as he is in winning ballgames.
