Yankees: Boone on the Astro’s apology, and what Gerrit Cole knew

Yankee Manager Aaron Boone is not satisfied with the Astro’s apology

New York Yankees Manager Boone made it known yesterday that the Houston Astro’s apology for the 2017 sign-stealing scheme fell short in his opinion.  Back on January 15, MLB Commission Rob Manfred issued his report, detailing how the Astros used electronic equipment to steal catcher’s signs illegally.  The result of the report caused the Astros significant punishments, include a one-year suspension for their general manager and Field Manager A.J. Hinch, both of which were immediately fired my Astros owner Jim Crane.  They were also fined $5MM and will lose first and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 MLB drafts.

During the entire offseason, the Astros, for the most part, have remained silent as the entire baseball world waited for some type of apology.  That apology finally came yesterday morning when Astro owner Crane called a news conference in Houston.  Present were Crane, new Manager Dusty Baker, and players Jose Altuve and Alex Bregman. Crane spoke first and said: “This will never happen again, while he’s in charge.”  He blamed the scandal on the front office and leadership.  He further added that the players should not be held responsible for the lack of leadership.  Next, Altuve and Bregman read prepared statements and immediately returned to the clubhouse, not entertaining any questions.

Crane and Baker remained to take questions from the media. When asked if he felt the 2017 World Championship was valid, he responded: “Listen, the Yankees have had a few comments out there. Our opinion is that this didn’t impact the game,” Crane said. “We had a good team. We won the World Series, and we’ll leave it at that.”  Aaron Boone, from the spring training complex in Tampa, was questioned on what he thought about the Crane statement.  “I think that’s quite a stretch,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said in response to Crane’s Thursday morning comments. “On what level did it impact things? I guess we’ll never know, and that’s for people to draw their own conclusions on. I think clearly when we’re talking about some of the things that went on, those things had an effect on games.”

Gerrit Cole has nothing to apologize for:

With pitchers and catchers having their first workouts yesterday in Tampa, the question of what newly acquired Gerrit Cole knew or didn’t know about the Astros sign-stealing scheme was bound to come up.  The New York Yankees lost the 2017 ALCS to the Houston Astros and again this past season.  Cole was ready for any questions that would be posed by the media, even though he was still a Pittsburgh Pirate in 2017.  When Cole was asked about it he said:

“I’ll just give them an honest answer, which is I had no idea of any of it going on, and I didn’t see any of it,” Cole said. “So, I really don’t think I have much to apologize for.”

He was also asked about if buzzers were used during the 2019 ALCS.  He responded that he wasn’t aware of any such foul play during his tenure with the Astros. He added that he believed his former teammates that they were not wearing anything under their jerseys.  “I would not have seen it, or been privy to that information anyway, but I believe my teammates. … I believe those guys,” Cole said.

“There’s nobody getting a win out of this. It doesn’t look very good, and I guess I’m just fortunate to be able to be here and move past it,” Cole said. “And I guess I get to experience all the great things about coming to a new team.”

In Tampa Aaron Boone was asked if he felt it necessary to talk with Cole about the illegal scheme.  In expressing that Cole was not a part of the 2017 team: “He was there, after a lot of the specific things that we know were going on, so no, I don’t view it as anything we’ve got to address with Gerrit,” Boone said.

Cole is totally focused on winning games with the team he grew up rooting for.  “I’ve been chomping at the bit quite a bit,” Cole said at a post-workout news conference. “I’m just excited to get down here. Just thrilled for his new adventure. A lot of good vibes, a lot of excitement and having a good time.”  Asked about his quest: “I love it,” Cole said. “From a player’s perspective, it really doesn’t get much more simple than that. It’s the dream to go out there every day and try to win every single time. There are a lot of moving parts, and there’s a lot of people that pour a lot of time into just simplifying that one theme: We need to win a world championship.”