HAMMER HITS CHEATING ASTROS HARD, BUT WE WANT MORE!

AJ Hinch is a clown. Justice was served.  But dare I say... there needs to be more... much, much more.

If you live under a rock, today was the beginning of the end of the Houston Astros franchise. Cheaters never succeed, and if they do, then that usually means someone at the top that makes BAD  decisions is just as corrupt as the cheaters that do them.

But today is a victory. It's a symbol to save baseball for the better.  And all that smugness from AJ Hinch telling "sources" to show their faces if they believed the Astros are cheating are gone. That's because he's gone. That's because when he said that to the country, he forgot that former Astros would turn into opponents, and opponents don't keep secrets. While baseball may be a boys club, Hinch's arrogance came back to bite him in the ass.  I love this day so much.

Mike Fiers is a hero, you know. He didn't have to say anything about the garbage-can banging and the cheating mechanism the Astros used in 2017.  He spilled the beans and thank God for that. Because looking back, things just didn't seem right. Home runs with a flare for the dramatic against their opponents were almost too obvious... too staged... almost like the Astros knew what was coming.  Oh... that's right... they did.

There were little things about the Astros that never seemed right to me. For example, it began in Game 7 of the 2017 World Series against the Dodgers. There were 2 outs in the first inning and Alex Bregman stole third. I remember it clearly because it was a little odd. It was then that my 15 year old stood up and said, "Why would he steal third there? That's weird."  For me and my family, all baseball fans... that was the beginning for us. We became curious then, but we couldn't put our finger on it.

Why? Why were these plays happening, these timely home runs coming? Almost like they knew what was being thrown. We couldn't figure it out. Not until Mike Fiers spoke up. And thank God, because now... looking back, it explains a lot.

CBS Sports writes this about today's historic event:

"Houston Astros owner Jim Crane announced Monday that manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow have been fired. Crane's decision came shortly after MLB announced penalties for the Astros' sign-stealing scandal in 2017. As part of those penalties, Hinch and Luhnow were each suspended for one year. 

Crane, though, said he was going over and above those penalties and relieved Hinch and Luhnow of their duties. He is expected to oversee baseball operations department in the interim. According to multiple reports, current Astros bench coach Joe Espada will be named interim manager. Espada, 44, had been a candidate for multiple managerial openings earlier this offseason."

I'll say it again... Thank God.

And by the way, don't praise Crane as a hero here. He's just as guilty as all of them, but he's running the show so I guess he needed to make an example of Hinch and Luhnow. That being said, I wish MLB could fire this loser too. He's King Cheater. But anyway...

Look... it was obvious to me that the Astros were guilty after the signing-stealing scandal came to light. Not a single Astros player came forward to say they were innocent or guilty. In fact, they were silent. No tweets, no statements... they were hiding under their desks.  That's guilt, folks…. that's guilt.

The only weirdos you hear from are losers and irrelevant players like Logan Morrison coming out and calling the scandal "fake news".   NJ.com writes this:

"Morrison, a 10-year big-leaguer, ripped MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred’s report on the Astros’ sign-stealing scandal Monday afternoon.“The Manfred report that came out is straight FAKE news,” Morrison said before deleting the post a couple hours later."

There's a reason why he removed the post, folks. Because he's wrong and he's stupid too by the way. Really stupid.


What the Manfred report shows was that there was a system in place utilized by the Astros team. What it shows was that Carlos Beltran was the ringleader, and when Alex Cora went to Boston, he then helped the Red Sox steal their own signs.

While no players were reprimanded, they should be. That title should be stripped. They didn't earn it fairly... they cheated.  Why do I say that you ask? Because players take direction from coaches and managers... and last time I checked... AJ Hinch was in charge.

You can't sit there as a player and say... "Well, I didn't know Hinch, Beltran and Cora were cheating!  I didn't know that banging on the garbage can helped me decipher which pitch was being thrown. I didn't know. I didn't know." THEY DID KNOW... ALL OF THEM KNEW.

And that's where Manfred's decision on the investigation falls flat. I mean sure, the Astros were also fined $5 million and forced to give up their first and second round picks in 2020 and 2021. But there's a very important piece to this that makes me aggravated and something that Manfred really should have handled swiftly.... the players played... the players knew... the players are cheaters too. The Astros players need to hurt too on this one. They knew it was happening and said and did nothing. Even Justin Verlander.

This makes me laugh, because this just goes to show how spineless Justin Verlander really can be.  With Detroit, Verlander was pissed about sign-stealing back in the day and that surfaced after Hinch got fired. The Score quotes Verlander when he was with the Tigers here:

"It's not about gamesmanship anymore. It used to be: 'Hey, if you can get my signs, good for you.' In the past, if a guy on second (base) was able to decipher it on a few pitches, I guess that was kind of part of the game... I think it's a different level now. It's not good."

And this is what I'm talking about. When it's not against your team, I guess he's OK with it. Verlander didn't like stealing signs and yet his team was in the thick of it in 2017 and he says NOTHING.  I have news for you... whether he was directly involved or not... he was an Astro and he knew it was going on. Kind of makes him look pretty guilty too.

Yup Verlander, you're a cheater too.

And so look, many think this is over now... but it's not.  Forever the Astros will have a black eye. If they start winning, they will be questioned. If they don't, it's because they aren't cheating. Are they tainted? 100% yes.  They are despicable people?

Yup, all of them.

And that brings me to the biggest scumbag of them all... Alex Cora.

Word on the street is Cora is about to get crucified... and I'm hoping he's banned from baseball forever.  I mean sure, suspending Hinch for a year is nice... firing he and Luhnow is awesome. Fining the Astros $5 million? Amazing. BUT WE WANT MORE.   

Pete Rose gets banned from baseball for life for gambling.

Alex Cora should be banned for life for cheating. It has to happen. It really has to.  The New York Post writes this about this loser:

"If you thought the punishments levied at the Astros following MLB’s investigation into sign-stealing were harsh, just wait. 

Current Red Sox skipper and former Houston coach Alex Cora likely still faces penalties after it was determined that he “arranged for a video room technician to install a monitor displaying the center field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros’ dugout.”... 

The report also stated that Cora “was involved in developing both the banging scheme and utilizing the replay review room to decode and transmit signs.” Commissioner Rob Manfred said he was not commenting on Cora’s punishment as the Red Sox are still being investigated for using electronics to steal signs in 2018. 

“Cora participated in both schemes, and through his active participation, implicitly condoned the players’ conduct,” Manfred wrote in his nine-page statement, which outed a lengthy list of wrongdoers."

Cora is a clown.

He knows what he did. Cora needs to be punished severely.  Fired? Yes, Fined? Sure. Banned? 100%.

BYB will be reaching out to Pete Rose the next few days. We will try to get an interview and his thoughts on this whole mess.  Personally, this sign-stealing scandal is much worse to me than betting on baseball at this point.  Why? Because the entire Astros franchise was involved.  And Cora? He needs to be the example.

Scare the shit out of the Astros.
Scare the crap out of the Red Sox.

Clean up the game... the time is now Mr. Manfred!

Justice was served today... but yes... more needs to be done.

HAL'S SEARCH FOR YANKEE MANAGER CONTINUES

Kathy Willens/AP Photo

The first weekend without baseball.....and it sucks. I am ready for some hot stove and moves to be made so feel free to announce Brian Cashman's new contract anytime now. Then maybe we can finally get this new Yankee manager signed too and get the 2018 Yankee team in motion. The sooner these things happen the faster baseball officially comes back....right?

Photo: Gabe Kapler / Getty Images

Well, it's wishful thinking anyway. The field of Yankee managerial candidates dropped by a few in the past week:

• The guy I thought was one of the top favorites for the gig, Joe Espada has a new job as third base and bench coach for the World Champion Houston Astros.

• Former LA Dodgers director of player development, Gabe Kapler is now the new manager for the Philadephia Phillies

• Another former bench coach and World Series Champion, Dave Martinez says Goodbye to the Chicago Cubs and heads to Washington as the new Nationals manager.

So who is still in the running? Well, new rumors are swirling after a veteran major league scout talked to NJ.com and said he thinks that Brad Ausmus is going to be Cashman's next choice despite all of the predictions of some saying the Yankees will hire a young, analytical guy that Cashman has close connections to.

This scout believes the Yankees will hire a guy with major league experience with another team and has "thick skin." Sounds like this scout likes a guy that can coddle and kick a guy in the pants if needed....and he thinks Ausmus is that guy.

On paper, Ausmus may not look like the ideal candidate to replace Joe Girardi. After all, Girardi had a 910-710 record as Yankees manager and won a pennant and won a World series title. Ausmus on the other hand managed the Detroit Tigers from 2014-2017 posting a 314-322 record and 2015 and 2017 he finished with losing seasons. How could that possibly translate to a good candidate to replace Girardi?

Honestly, I think Ausmus wasn't set up for success in Detroit and Peter Gammons agrees, you can read that HERE. Ausmus had an aging roster that was inconsistent and a subpar farm system. He simply didn't have the right team to work with yet he was expected to win. Dave Dombrowski should share some of the brunt of the failures here. He was in charge of giving Ausmus the tools to help him win and he simply didn't do it. Gammon's quote of  "Dombrowski has long viewed his role not as trades and acquisitions, but organizational-building" is an eye-opening account of what he and perhaps other outsiders perceive what his role was in the Tigers organization. I don't care how much organizational-building" you do....if you don't have the right people you aren't growing at all. The GM did not give his manager the tools he needed to do his job which is especially hard to ignore when Ausmus had no previous managerial experience.

Photo: NJ.com

I don't foresee that happening in New York. Cashman has been very clear on his expectations and how he plans to accomplish them and he has followed through on them. He has a very different approach and maybe Ausmus is the guy for the job. One MLB scout thinks so and Ausmus is certainly trending in the news so maybe the Yankees are interested?

Who knows if there is any truth to Ausmus and his connection to the Yankees but as the pool of candidates get smaller the rumors become harder to ignore.

Would you want to hire Ausmus and give him a chance here? Tell us why or why not.



--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ

THE NEWEST MANAGERIAL CANDIDATE IS SURPRISING...

I didn't see this one coming.

This new possible manager candidate comes out of left field.....literally, he used to play left field. Now the Yankees are tied with Jerry Hairston Jr as the newest possible skipper on a seemingly growing list. This list should be called the "Everyone but Joe Girardi" list since it's growing by the day. I don't think anyone even thought about this name...

It has been widely reported that the Yankees new manager will be someone that Brian Cashman has a relationship with already. If that really is the plan Hairston Jr doesn't even cross my mind as a possibility just due to the limited tenure he had as a Yankee. Back in 2009 he helped the Yankees get their World Series ring BUT.....he only played 45 games. Since his days as a Yankee he played on four different teams before retiring as a Dodger and has since been an analyst as SportsNet LA as a pregame analyst.

Photo: New York Daily News

I don't see the big connection there with Cashman, at least not compared to other candidates for the job that have long Yankee ties like Rob Thomson, Tony Pena and especially Joe Espada. If Cashman does prefer to have a manager that he has a relationship with already then Espada sounds like a more obvious choice. He has worked with Cashman in the front office, knows all of the young kids the Yankees have and he is an analytical guy that can help the Yankees in the coming years.

Photo: New York Daily News

Hairston is a third generation major league baseball player so he certainly has baseball in his blood. His grandfather Sam Hairston, father Jerry Hairston Sr., uncle Johnny and brother Scott Hairston were also all major league players along with several other family members who played in the minor leagues. Hairston's experience in both the infield and the outfield could give him an advantage if he does want to transition from commentary to managing since he has a lot of knowledge. His experience could help the Yankees in their youth movement but his lack of managerial experience though could also be a disadvantage considering how deep of a talent pool the Yankees have to choose from.

I guess since I have no personal favorite to fill Girardi's shoes at this point I just don't see anyone as the perfect fit. Maybe I am still in shock over it. I'm no expert, and maybe I am not giving Hairston Jr enough credit. Maybe his younger mindset could give the Yankees new life. It looks like we are behind the times here because I found an old ESPN article HERE from 2013 and he was considered an intriguing name for a managerial role years ago.

Maybe I am just wrong....or not willing to accept any name at this point. Who knows where the Yankees search will lead them as they look for their new skipper. Could it be Hairston Jr? I guess anything is possible at this point.

Stay tuned.




--Jeana Bellezza

BYB Managing Editor 
Follow me on Twitter: @NYPrincessJ

#BYB Merchandise

THOSE GIRARDI REPLACEMENT CANDIDATES

Photo: Getty Images

Wow, that took no time at all! The Yankees season ended less than a week ago and already they have declared that Joe Girardi will no longer be the team manager, read GIRARDI'S TOAST.

Speculation has already begun as to whom shall be his replacement. There are many candidates out there, but as you and I know... this is not a job for just anybody. Along with the managing of a baseball team, when taking the job of being the New York Yankee manager you're also taking on the task of managing an entire fan base and city.

Photo: New York Post

So while there are many managers out there, the options really are limited.  So, in the immortal words of Men at Work, I can't help but wonder "Who can it be now?" Of all the possibilities out there, is there really one that could step in and do what Joe Girardi has done for the last 10 years?

As with any situation like this, there are a lot of names being thrown around as to who could be the next man up. It's hard to tell which ones actually may be in the running. Our leader here at BYB, Robert Casey, asked me to write a piece as to who might actually be the next Yankee manager.

With the youth movement in full effect, I really don't think it would be wise to shake things up too much. I believe the new manager will come from within the organization. Someone who knows the strengths and weaknesses of the kids already. 

The first candidate that I would think fits this mold is current bench coach, Rob Thomson. He has been in the organization since 1990 and knows how things work within its confines. Though he does have limited managerial experience, 75 games for the New York/Penn League Oneonta Yankees, this is a hire that could end up working out just fine.

Another in-house guy could be current manager of the Scranton/Wilkes Barre Railriders, Al Pedrique.

Photo: Getty Images

Pedrique has managed and had success at every level within the organization. He has managed a lot of the kids currently on the big league roster and knows what they can and cannot do.

Photo: NJ.com

A third and final in-house candidate could be current third base coach Joe Espada. As with the previous names, Espada has been around the organization for a few years now. Though, much like Thomson he has little to no managerial experience, if you surround him with the right coaches, he could end up being decent. 

Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports

A fourth option is Tony Pena.  He is loved by the players, has been around the game forever and could be the perfect fit with the New York Yankees.

Look, I have no idea what it takes to be a good manager, but my feeling is that you simply need to continue molding our youth, and I believe that if you keep it inside the family, it may be a smart start.

What do you think? Should we keep it in the family? Or should we go bigger?  Dusty Baker? Raul Ibanez? 

--Michael Carnesi
BYB Writer
Follow me on Twitter: @sevn4evr 

COULD GLEYBER TORRES PLAY THIRD BASE?

There is no question that fans are excited about Gleyber Torres.  No one realized just how incredible he is. I mean we all knew he was a good prospect... but this is like a dream!

But look, we already have Didi Gregorius and Starlin Castro in key spots and those spots are places that Torres should play.  And so now... what happens with Torres?  There's no question he's almost ready for the Big show.

You know me... I like Chase Headley, but don't love his defense.  And so, NJ.com and Brendan Kuty had a great nugget about the Yankees and Torres and third base.  Check this out:

"Joe Espada saw it right away.  The Yankees’ infield instructor and third base coach first got to watch top shortstop prospect Gleyber Torres in the Arizona Fall League last year. Espada was immediately impressed with the 20-year-old’s whole package as a defender: His instincts, his feet, his arm.

Since then, Torres has pushed the Yankees to consider him for a major-league promotion. They promoted him from Double-A Trenton to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre after just 32 games. It may just be a matter of time before Torres wears pinstripes.

(Butch Dill | USA Today Sports)

If he reaches the majors this season — and, according to NJ Advance Media’s Randy Miller, the Yankees are expecting just that — it seems probable that Torres would see much of his time at third base. Chase Headley has struggled mightily while shortstop Didi Gregorius and second baseman Starlin Castro continue to excel.

With that in mind, we asked Espada why he believes Torres could succeed at the position. (Side note, as of Saturday morning, Torres had played five games at third base at Triple-A, three at shortstop and two at second base.)"

Now while it's true that Espada is a New York Yankee... he's not exactly the authority here. That being said, there is a lot of steam rolling with this story, and I would LOVE to see Torres snag that third base slot sometime soon.

Thoughts?

A-ROD AT FIRST A-DISASTER

Hey, we did this already... do why are we doing it again?  Nugget I needed to share... Alex Rodriguez will practice taking grounders at first base and training there again.  He'll practice during the All-Star Break.

The New York Daily News has the story:

"Alex Rodriguez’s first half closed with him in a familiar position: sitting on the bench. So he plans to spend part of his All-Star break doing something about it.

According to a source, A-Rod grabbed one of Mark Teixeira’s first-base gloves on his way out of the clubhouse Sunday, which he’ll use to take grounders at first base during the four-day break.

Rodriguez also plans to work with infield coach Joe Espada beginning Friday, the source said, as he looks to add fielding versatility to his current DH-only arsenal."

Now we did this in the beginning of the season and as Michael Keaton says in Mr. Mom... "It didn't take."  So what are we doing here?

Don't we all remember when Girardi said that that experiment was pretty much over before it started? And is this a serious nugget or something Mark Feinsand made up leaving the ballpark on the way to a steak dinner?  Whatever the case, it's an interesting nugget, but I'm just not sure we need Alex there... you know what I mean?

"MUST READ FUN" ABOUT OUR YANKEE COACHES

It's one of those things. Many times a coach is in the dugout, working on the team and you realize, "Wait, did he play in the major leagues?"  That's when I click on the old Baseball-Reference.com, and see what I can find.  I gotta tell you, it's amazing.  Thank God for the Internet.  Thank God for Baseball-Reference.com.

I decided to do something cute.  I wanted to share with all of you when and who the Yankees coaching staff played for, share some stats, show a picture and have alittle fun on this Wednesday morning.  I even asked my BYB writers to take this story. No one bit. They're all fired.

Let's start with Joe Girardi:

Obviously he played and now manages for the Yankees, but he also played for the Cubs, the Rockies and 1 year with the St. Louis Cardinals in 2003, his final year in the majors.  Lifetime, the guy batted .267, had 36 homers and 422 RBIs.  I wanted to find a nice old picture of the dude, when he played for the Cubs, his original team in 1989. I came up with this:

Atta boy Joe.

Next comes Larry Rothschild.  This is a dude that had an OK career as a pitcher.  I say OK because he played 2 whole years in the major leagues, 1981 and 1982.  He played with the Detroit Tigers, and compiled an amazing 5.40 ERA in 7 games.  He never recorded a win or loss, but he does have 1 save.  I searched and searched for a photo of the dude. Here's what I found:

Freaking Stud.

Alan Cockrell wasn't a porn star, despite his name.  He was however a ballplayer and what I found was interesting.  In 1996, he played his only season ever in the Majors.  It was with the Colorado Rockies and he had a .250 average, 2 hits, a single and double and 2 RBIs. That's it!

Interesting right? Yet, he's our hitting coach.

Next up is Tony Pena and we all know how successful he was as a catcher for the Pirates and Cardinals. Pena played from 1980 to 1997 and was freaking awesome. A terrific defensive catcher. Agile, smart and just a very good teammate.  My favorite years from him was when he was with the Pirates.  Overall, he played 18 years and had a career average of  .260, having 107 home runs and over 700 RBIs. 

Gotta love Tony.

Joe Espada was a minor leaguer his entire career bouncing from teams like Vancouver to Sacremento to Calgary and Omaha.  He played from 1996 to 2003. He was a second baseman and shortstop and now, amazingly, he's the third base coach for the New York Yankees.

America's a great place, ain't it?

Marcus Thames was alot of fun to watch when he played. He was passionate.  He played with the Yankees, blossomed with the Tigers and returned to New York for a moment and then finished his career in Los Angeles with the Dodgers.  He played a total of  10 years in the Majors.  He batted .246, had 115 homers and 311 RBIs.

Now he's back assisting Cockrell.  Love it.

Bullpen coach Mike Harkey was a beefy pitcher for a while in the majors.  Actually,  he played for several teams from 1988 to 1997 racking up a 36-36 record and a 4.49 ERA.  He played for the Cubs, Rockies, A's, Angels and Dodgers. I remember him most with the Cubs... that's what I'm choosing right here.

 

And there you go. 

Rob Thomson is the Yankees bench coach.  I'm gonna be honest with you, the guy must have worked with the CIA before this because I can't find anything about the guy.  It's strange actually.

What I did find came from Wikipedia. Check this out: " Thomson was selected by the Detroit Tigers in the 32nd round of the 1985 draft from the University of Kansas. He played catcher and third base in the Tigers' minor league system until 1988, when he became a minor league coach for the team. "

Obviously now he's bench coach but moved around from first base coach and third base coach and all of that.  But here's the breaking news... he's Canadian! WTF bro.

Well, I hope you enjoyed this piece. Trust me, we at BYB are the only ones to take the time to put together something so mindless, yet, educational about the Yankees coaches. I really hope you liked it.

Hey... the offseason is here. I gotta fill the pages of BYB somehow!

You've made BYB the fastest growing Yankees fan site in history. Now shop at the Bleeding Yankee Blue store! Follow me on Twitter@BleednYankeeBlu and LIKE Bleeding Yankee Blue on Facebook! Also, don't forget to check out the BYB Hub!