Hell hath no fury like a commissioner scorned, except in the case of Rob Manfred and the Houston Astros' sign-stealing scandal.
Although it's been nearly seven years since Major League Baseball disciplined the Astros for an elaborate scheme involving technology and trash cans, the incident reemerged on social media on Wednesday afternoon. NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced various sanctions against Steve Ballmer and the Los Angeles Clippers for violating salary cap circumvention rules to pay All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers received a $30 million fine, multiple suspensions, and the loss of five future first-round picks. If that sounds overly harsh, consider how lightly the Astros got off in January 2020.
Comparing the NBA's Clippers punishment to MLB's ruling on the Astros
Before going further, let's look at the official and unofficial punishments levied against the Astros and Clippers as of Sept. 3.
Team | Official punishments | Additional ramifications |
|---|---|---|
Houston Astros |
|
|
Los Angeles Clippers |
| N/A (As of Sept. 3) |
Manfred later admitted in a 2023 interview that granting players immunity was “maybe not my best decision.” Astros pitchers Mike Fiers — the initial whistleblower — and Ken Giles both offered to return their World Series rings, and pitcher Collin McHugh expressed remorse for participating.
“Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment,” Manfred told Time Magazine. “I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us.”
In fairness to Manfred, the union would have contested any suspension levied against active players. Multiple Astros veterans, including Altuve and Justin Verlander, later acknowledged that they should have done more to stop the scheme. Altuve was also reportedly among four players who told teammates not to tip off the pitches.
The fact that players who later admitted to participating in the system escaped without suspension nonetheless remains egregious. Granting immunity to players was essentially accepting their actions and warning them not to do it again.
To be clear, we're not saying that the league should have punished Carlos Correa or Alex Bregman after the fact. Both admitted they were ashamed of their actions. It remains unclear whether either cooperated with the league's investigation and provided information — either about themselves or teammates — before the January 2020 announcement.
Then-Astros catcher Brian McCann also reportedly told Beltrán to stop. It's worth noting that the two previously spent three years together on the Yankees and were extremely familiar with one another, even going back to their NL East days with the Braves and Mets, respectively.
But in the end, the scandal won't have a long-term impact on Leonard's legacy. Beltrán was inducted into the Hall of Fame earlier this summer, and he's widely expected to become the Mets' next manager. Altuve is considered a future Hall of Famer, though his presence on the 2017 championship team might delay his election.
Hinch has managed the Tigers since 2021, and Luhnow later became an owner of the Leganés soccer club. Zucker and Frank still held their jobs as of publication, and the latter will resume his duties long before the 2026-27 playoffs.
Our parents were wrong. Actions don't always have lasting consequences, at least not if those in charge of discipline are reluctant to put their foot down.
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