MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred "has to see now that his ruling in the Astros sign stealing scandal is inadequate," as it has left an "entire industry -- including fans and rival players and front offices --believing that crime pays," according to Joel Sherman of the N.Y. POST. Manfred "should not worry that amending his initial sanctions will look weak -- since that is the general sense already." A mulligan "would make Manfred appear open-minded to the ongoing rightful indignation," and he "would look bigger, not smaller, for accepting that not all he does is flawless" (N.Y. POST, 2/18). The GLOBE & MAIL's Cathal Kelly writes Manfred has made his "third or fourth attempt at calming things down," each time he talks, "they get worse." Manfred’s view is that an "old fashioned shunning is worse than any actual sanction" (GLOBE & MAIL, 2/18). In Honolulu, Ferd Lewis writes under the header, "MLB Commissioner Manfred Can’t Get Out Of Own Way In Handling Of Astros Scandal." The scandal has "turned into a growing conflagration that Manfred, by his bumbling, seems unable to put out -- or get out of the way of" (HONOLULU STAR-ADVERTISER, 2/18). ESPN’s Mark Teixeira: “The commissioner needs to actually defer to maybe the general public or Congress and say, almost like the Mitchell Report, ‘Let’s have an independent investigation’” (“Get Up,” ESPN, 2/18).
NOT ALL BAD: In St. Louis, Rick Hummel notes Cardinals manager Mike Shildt had "exceeding praise" for Manfred. Shildt: "He got us in a room and we were able to talk about what’s going on in our game right now. He shared his expectations, which I think are spot-on." Shildt continued, "The sign-stealing stuff has been talked about and alluded to for several years now. The commissioner’s office has been very aggressive about what this looks like." More Shildt: "There’s been a huge step forward in cleaning it up, which I hope people can appreciate" (ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH, 2/18). Red Sox Chair Tom Werner said Manfred has "handled this appropriately," adding, "This situation in Houston was not good for baseball. I think the penalties were fair" (Springfield REPUBLICAN, 2/18).
HERD IMMUNITY: MLB Network’s Ken Rosenthal noted part of Manfred’s reasoning for not punishing players was that “had they suspended players, the union would have filed grievances on those players’ behalf, and frankly, MLB would have had not much of a case." MLB Net's Harold Reynolds said the league "would have never gotten to the bottom of it" without player immunity (“Hot Stove,” MLB Network, 2/17). ESPN's Jon Sciambi said players are talking about how their Astros counterparts "should have been punished higher," but the "union would have protected them” (“MLB Now,” MLB Network, 2/17). SNY’s Sal Licata said instead of “ripping Rob Manfred,” MLB players should “rip their own players’ association.” Licata: “That’s who’s protecting them, that’s where the problem lies” (“Loud Mouths,” SNY, 2/17). CBSSN’s Damon Amendolara said the MLBPA "would have been really split in having to defend the Astros” and would have faced a "PR nightmare." But Manfred “ran from the challenge” of taking on the union (“Time to Schein,” CBSSN, 2/17).
