Astros GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager AJ Hinch

Astros’ GM Jeff Luhnow and Manager AJ Hinch Suspended One Year in Sign-Stealing Scandal. MLB also docked Houston’s first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts and fined the organization $5 million. Houston Astros general manager Jeff Luhnow and field manager A.J. Hinch have both been suspended through the end of the 2020 season for their involvement in the illegal sign-stealing scandal that has consumed Major League Baseball for months. MLB, which announced the penalties Monday afternoon, also docked the Astros’ first- and second-round picks in the 2020 and 2021 drafts and fined the organization $5 million, the highest allowable under the sport’s constitution. It’s one of the most severe penalties in baseball history, coming at a time when the prevalence of technology-assisted sign-stealing across the sport has emerged as a key issue surrounding the game’s integrity. Stealing signs has an accepted form of gamesmanship in baseball for more than a century—when accomplished with with the wherewithal and ingenuity of the players on the field. Using technology to steal signs is a violation of league rules.