Former Orioles shortstop and current MASN analyst Mike Bordick says the Houston Astros’ World Series championship in 2017 is “completely discredited” due to the team’s sign-stealing scheme that year, and he says technology-aided sign-stealing is probably more rampant than it appears.
The Astros fired general manager Jeff Luhnow and manager A.J. Hinch after the two were suspended one year by MLB, which found that the Astros used technology to steal signs in 2017 and 2018. The Astros were docked first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts and fined $5 million as well.
Alex Cora, Houston’s bench coach in 2017, and Carlos Beltran, a player on that 2017 team, also lost their jobs after MLB detailed their roles in the scheme. Cora was the manager of the Boston Red Sox from 2018-2019, leading the team to a World Series title in 2018. Beltran took the New York Mets managing job ahead of the 2020 season but didn’t make it to spring training.
