The discipline has been handed down for the Houston Astros regarding the cheating scandal that has surrounded their organization and it isn’t pretty.
On Monday, ESPN’s Jeff Passan announced that Houston Astros General Manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended for one year after the MLB found evidence that they had used technology to cheat during the World Series winning 2017 season.
Not only did Hinch and Luhnow get suspended, but the organization was fined $5 million and they lose their first and second round draft picks in the 2020 and the 2021 drafts.
Shortly after the suspensions were handed down, Jeff Passan announced another HUGE move. (From here on out, I’ll be calling these #PassanBombs)
DAMN. WHAT A DAY FOR THE ASTROS
Now, for a few weeks we’ve heard that the punishment was going to be big and Major League Baseball followed up with the rumors. To suspend a GM and a coach for that long is BIG. It shows that the league means business and they are making an example out of the first team that was caught.
Now, if you don’t remember, videos had surfaced of the exact system that the Astros used to pull this off, which was actually pretty genius.
It worked out for them while they were doing it, but as you know cheaters always get caught. So does this mean the 2017 title gets taken away? I WOULD HOPE SO.
See the Red Sox didn’t need to steal signs in the 2018 postseason when they made their run to a WORLD SERIES title, but who am I to break that down.
Also as a note. As of me writing this article, Passan reported that Alex Cora would be punished as well for his part in that 2017 run. But, no players were set to be suspended.
thoughtsfromthebench.com 
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