Major League Baseball handed down severe punishments to the Houston Astros on Monday, and manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow both lost their jobs as a result.
Hinch and Luhnow, before being fired, were both suspended by the MLB through the 2020 World Series as part of the penalties the Astros received for stealing opposing teams' signs during the 2017 season. The Astros also lost several draft picks and were fined $5 million.
Further penalties could be coming for the Boston Red Sox, who are being investigated by the league for sign stealing in 2018. Red Sox manager Alex Cora was the bench coach for the Astros in 2017 before leaving to join Boston for the 2018 campaign. Cora played a key role in creating and implementing the Astros' sign-stealing operation, according to the MLB's report released Monday.
Social media exploded Monday with lots of opinions on all of the parties involved. Here's some notable Twitter reaction to the Astros' punishment and Cora's future with the Red Sox.
The #Astros dramatic firing of AJ Hinch and Jeff Luhnow puts a lot of pressure on the Red Sox to do the same to Alex Cora - and for the Mets to fire Carlos Beltran.
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) January 13, 2020
Didn’t really expect the punishments to be this harsh. Good for MLB stepping up. Still don’t know what’s more frustrating tho, an ex teammate of the WS title team talking publicly about his team cheating or so many guys being down to use a damn trash can lol. Should take the ring
— David Freese (@DavidFreese) January 13, 2020
The Dodgers had to watch the 2017 Astros and the 2018 Red Sox celebrate World Series titles at Dodger Stadium. Think about that.
— Tyler Kepner (@TylerKepner) January 13, 2020
2017 WORLD SERIES CHAMPS... THE HOUSTON ASTROS. Can’t take that away from the city 🤘🏾🤘🏾🤘🏾
— Justise Winslow (@IAmJustise) January 13, 2020
THE TEXANS: hey check out this heartbreak...
— Shea Serrano (@SheaSerrano) January 13, 2020
THE ASTROS: no no check out THIS heartbreak...
The Dodgers should be awarded one (1) Honorary World Series championship for having to play against not one but two cheating teams.
— Rob Arthur (@No_Little_Plans) January 13, 2020
Who would've thought a Houston coach/GM would be fired today and Bill O'Brien would be neither
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 13, 2020
Logan Morrison (who played w/ Yankees' Triple-A for a minute this year) just called Rob Manfred's report "fake news," said that the Astros' banging has been happening since 2014, and that he knows from "first hand" accounts that NYY and LAD also have "used film to pick signs"
— Brendan Kuty (@BrendanKutyNJ) January 13, 2020
— Trevor Bauer (@BauerOutage) January 13, 2020
I’d like my career numbers against Altuve, Springer, and Correa erased from the record books. Seriously though, it’s bad. Can they do that?
— Phil Hughes (@PJHughes45) January 13, 2020
Translation: “It was Cora” https://t.co/Ji8Y8T7ERa
— DJ Bean (@DJ_Bean) January 13, 2020