Jeff Luhnow Says Astros Still Employ People Involved in Sign-Stealing Scandal

Former Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow, who was fired before the 2020 season because of his involvement in their 2017 sign-stealing scandal, said Monday the club still employs people who played a role in stealing signs during the Astros' World Series-winning season.

According to Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle, Luhnow said the following in an interview with KPRC 2's Vanessa Richardson:

"The people who were involved that didn't leave naturally to go to other teams are all still employed by the Astros. In fact, one of the people who was intimately involved, I had demoted from a position in the clubhouse to a position somewhere else, and after I was fired he was promoted back into the clubhouse. So none of those people faced any repercussions. They weren't discussed in the report, but the evidence is all there that they were involved."

MLB suspended both Luhnow and former Astros manager A.J. Hinch for the 2020 MLB season, and Houston fired both for their role in the scandal.

Luhnow added that he has read through 22,000 text messages sent between Astros clubhouse personnel and coaches. He insists he was unaware of what was going on at the time but said those involved in the sign-stealing system knew what they were doing was wrong:

"They were aware it was wrong, and they also were using text messages to cheat on the job. They were communicating signs, and this was to coaches, this was to people in the video room. It's all there in black and white. And what's also clear from it is who's not involved. I'm not implicated. I'm not in any of those text messages. In fact, there's a few text messages where they say, 'Don't tell Jeff.' So, it's pretty clear that I wasn't involved from that. But it's also clear who was involved and how often it happened, and the extent to which it happened."

While Hinch admitted he was aware of the sign-stealing as it was happening, Luhnow has remained steadfast in saying he didn't know what was going on until after the fact.

After reading the texts, Luhnow concluded that the sign-stealing system was concocted at the end of the 2016 season and then used for all of the 2017 season and part of the 2018 campaign.

The Astros missed the playoffs in 2016 before going on to win the World Series in 2017 and reaching the American League Championship Series in 2018.

When asked why he felt MLB punished him despite his insistence that he didn't play a role in the scandal, Luhnow said: "Major League Baseball had to deliver a punishment that was perceived to be severe to other clubs. The Dodgers and other clubs were adamant about some big punishments and they wanted the manager and they wanted the general manager to go down in this scandal and they got it."

MLB didn't punish any of the active players involved and instead focused on going after those in administrative positions.

Even without Luhnow and Hinch in the fold this season, the Astros made it to the ALCS again and pushed the Tampa Bay Rays to seven games, falling just one win short of their third World Series appearance in four years.

Luhnow and Hinch will both be eligible to return in 2021, but with new Astros general manager James Click and manager Dusty Baker leading Houston on a deep playoff run, Luhnow and Hinch will likely have to resume their careers elsewhere.