Manfred said that the league is committed to creating an inclusive, harassment-free environment for allGETTY IMAGES
MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred intimated that the league's investigation into Astros Assistant GM Brandon Taubman's conduct is "well underway," according to Chandler Rome of the HOUSTON CHRONICLE. Manfred: "I'm really concerned at this point about the underlying substance of the situation, what the atmosphere was and how it came to be. That's my focus right now." Manfred added the league is committed to an "inclusive, harassment-free environment." He said, "We have to be tremendously concerned whenever we have an incident that attracts this much attention." Meanwhile, Astros President of Baseball Operations & GM Jeff Luhnow yesterday apologized for Taubman's actions in his "first public comments" on the situation on Houston-based KBME-AM. Luhnow said "we may never know" Taubman's intent. He added, "Brandon has apologized from inappropriate behavior and I think, from my perspective, clearly something happened that he regrets. ... What we really don't know is the intent behind the inappropriate comments he made. We may never know that because the person who said them and the people who heard them, at least up to this point, have different perspectives." Luhnow "fielded only one question about the allegations during his 12-minute interview" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE. 10/24). USA TODAY's Bob Nightengale reports MLB was "not consulted when the Astros put out a statement" calling the initial SI story "misleading and completely irresponsible." The team also claimed the article was an "attempt to fabricate a story where one does not exist" (USA TODAY, 10/24).
PEEK BEHIND THE CURTAIN: ESPN's Jeff Passan said the whole incident with Taubman "on its face was ridiculous, but when you understand who the Houston Astros are, it really wasn't that ridiculous at all." Passan added this is "something that has been building up for upward of a decade right now because this is an organization that does not care about what the outside world thinks and in terms of baseball, it has absolutely behooved them." Passan: "They are, in a lot of ways, the model organization for developing players and winning baseball games. But when it comes to dealing with people, this was simply another incident in a long line of them where they look at the perception out in the public and say, 'It does not matter. We are going to do things how we do them and that's that'" ("ESPN Daily," ESPN.com, 10/24). Houston Chronicle columnist Jenny Dial Creech said the Taubman incident was "horrific" and it is a "really, really bad look by the Astros." Creech said she has been "very critical" of the trade for P Roberto Osuna and she has never gotten any "backlash in the clubhouse" or from Astros manager A.J. Hinch. Creech: "I felt very supported and comfortable being in that clubhouse. But there have been people in other positions for the Astros who have stopped me at other events, not really baseball, to let me know how upset they are about the things that I've written and how they feel like I've been unfair" ("OTL," ESPN, 10/23).
CALL TO ACTION: THE ATHLETIC's Ken Rosenthal wrote Manfred "must fill the void created by the Astros' inaction and impose harsh discipline on the club." A "lengthy suspension for Taubman and hefty fine for the Astros is warranted." Manfred "works for the owners, but as the most powerful man in the sport he also bears a certain moral responsibility." Once he decides on the Taubman incident, he "should take the next logical step and ask the players' union to revisit the loophole that led" to the Astros' acquisition of Osuna in the first place (THEATHLETIC.com, 10/24). In DC, Deron Snyder writes, "You don't need an MBA to realize that Taubman's outburst was insufferable and Houston's response has been reprehensible. The Astros might be smarter than most organizations. But they've been idiots on this matter" (WASHINGTON TIMES, 10/24). In Boston, John Tomase noted the Astros had "many ways to handle this situation." They "made a choice so spectacularly wrong it highlighted a pervasive institutional rot that should disqualify their chief decision-makers from being handed the reins anywhere else" (NBCSPORTSBOSTON.com, 10/23).
VOICE OF REASON: In Houston, Jerome Solomon notes Hinch throughout the past week has "displayed a steady calm and intelligence that might make him the most important person" in the organization. While the Astros' front office "brought more shame to the brand by stumbling all over itself with statements," Hinch "answered a question on the matter with a directness that the rest of the organization's leaders would have been advised to follow." He "could have hidden behind the wall that separates the team from the front office." But he "believes he is obligated to be out-front on certain issues, because that's what a great leader does" (HOUSTON CHRONICLE, 10/24).
TIMING IS EVERYTHING: In N.Y., Andrew Marchand notes despite the Taubman controversy becoming the "biggest story heading into the World Series, MLB.com took nearly 24 hours before posting anything" on the incident. This was "not a good look for the site and undermines its writers" (N.Y. POST, 10/24).
