It's been a wild few months for the Houston Astros after they were defeated by the Washington Nationals in the World Series. The Astros won the World Series back in 2017 so their World Series appearance in 2019 was supposed to be a celebration of their continued growth. However, it was soon reported that the Astros engaged in sign-stealing during their run in 2017 and that Major League Baseball would begin an in-depth investigation. After months of interviews and footage reviews, the league has determined that the Astros did, in fact, break the rules.
According to Jeff Passan of ESPN, the Astros general manager, Jeff Luhnow and manager, AJ Hinch, will be suspended for the entirety of next season. Not to mention, the team will be fined $5 million and will have to give up their first and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts.
This is a huge blow for the Astros although it's certainly an expected one. The Astros are fairly hated by baseball fans at this point and with this latest punishment in mind, fans are waiting for even more justice to be doled out. There could be even more sanctions on the way so stay tuned as we will be sure to bring you the latest.