Former New York Yankee David Wells isn’t a fan of Jim Crane saying that the sign-stealing didn’t affect the 2017 World Series.
This week, the Houston Astros publicly addressed the sign-stealing scandal at a spring training press conference. After the MLB completed an investigation and found the Astros guilty of their cheating ways, the organization fired then-manager A.J. Hinch and then-general manager Jeff Luhnow. Thus, owner Jim Crane along with infielders José Altuve and Alex Bregman addressed the media to apologize.
The 2017 campaign — one of the years they implemented the sign-stealing system — saw them winning a World Series. Crane doesn’t believe the sign-stealing led to them raising the Commissioner’s Trophy though, stating “Our opinion is this didn’t impact the game. We had a good team. We won the World Series and we’ll leave it at that,” per Mike Axisa of CBS Sports.
This didn’t exactly sit well with former New York Yankees left-hander David Wells.
What is he smoking ?????? It impacted the game BIG-TIME. That’s not the way to win a Division or a Championship. The Players should be Banned for life like Pete Rose. If they got immunity then Pete Rose and the Black Sox should too. I think the commissioner should rethink his dec
— david wells (@BoomerWells33) February 13, 2020
Wells underwent two stints with the Yankees (1997-98, 2002-03). While in the Bronx, he made it to one All-Star Game and won a World Series title, both of which came in 1998. He additionally pitched a perfect game in May of that same season.
Commissioner Rob Manfred did implement one-year suspensions for both Hinch and Luhnow but granted immunity for the players. It’s not just the Astros that were affected by the sanctions, but other ballclubs as well. The Boston Red Sox and New York Mets parted ways with managers Alex Cora and Carlos Beltrán, respectively.
Cora was the bench coach for Houston during the 2017 campaign. Beltrán, on the other hand, spent time as the designated hitter throughout that same season. Carlos is said to have been one of the leaders of the sign-stealing system.
