A.J. Hinch: 'Fair' to Question If Astros' 2017 World Series Tainted by Cheating

Former Houston Astros manager A.J. Hinch is leaving it up to baseball observers to decide if the team's 2017 World Series title is tainted. 

"It's a fair question," Hinch told MLB Network. "And I think everyone's going to have to draw their own conclusion."

Hinch was suspended for one season by Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred shortly before the Astros fired him in the wake of Houston's sign-stealing scandal. Manfred concluded Hinch was as much at fault for not stopping the scheme as he was for allowing it to happen in the first place.

"[Hinch] knew of and did not stop the communication of sign information from the replay review room, although he disagreed with this practice as well and specifically voiced his concerns on at least one occasion about the use of the replay phone for this purpose," Manfred wrote in his statement on the matter. "As the person with responsibility for managing his players and coaches, there simply is no justification for Hinch’s failure to act."

Even now, Hinch is unclear on just how much the sign-stealing helped Houston during his tenure. While he praised the amount of talent in the Astros' clubhouse, the former manager knows it will be impossible to separate their success from the scandal.

"I can't pinpoint what advantages or what happened or exactly what happened otherwise," Hinch said. "But we did it to ourselves."

As baseball prepares to open spring training in the coming days, Hinch doesn't know what his former players will say when they finally address the issue. How baseball reacts at large is also in question.