A couple of random thoughts:
- I'm curious to see what happens with Beltran and the Mets. Most of the reports I've read indicate that he won't be punished, but at the very least that's going to be an interesting press conference to open spring training.
- I was listening to Eduardo Perez on the Radio this am, he did color on both the 17 and 19 series. He sat in the same place for both at Minute Maid (not sure where in the ballpark he was) in 17' he had a monitor to watch the tv feed. In 19' the monitor was there but turned off. He asked the usher to turn it on - the usher told him he wasn't allowed to, they were under strict orders that monitors in view of field personnel needed to be off during the entire game.
- While it's hard to say that not having the sign stealing would've guaranteed their opponents winning the ALCS and WS in 17 and 18, it does guarantee one thing - Yankees and Dodgers fans are never going to shut up about it for the next 3 decades at least.
- I'd have to think that they'll be harsher on Cora, if not for anything else, for the reason he did it with one team, and then imported the whole process to the next team he went to.
- IMHO, there are three reasons why the Astros had to fire Hinch and Luhnow - 1) Are you really going to Hire someone for one year as an interim coach? 2) They embarassed your organization (luhnow multiple times) 3) You need to give the impression to fans, other teams, and your players that you're cleaning house
- I'm surprised Luhnow lasted this long considering he not only had this scandal, but also the password stealing scandal, and the Taubman scandal. Granted, he kept winning, but put a black eye on the franchise.