Can Players’ Bosses Control Cheating in Baseball? ‘It’s Tough’

Just being around, though, does not guarantee that managers or general managers see any rule-breaking, let alone stop it. According to Manfred’s report and subsequent news media reports, Luhnow failed to police his own team, while Hinch knew of the cheating schemes but never explicitly told his players to stop it.

“You try to make yourself as aware as possible,” Falvey said. “In the cases that have transpired to date, as best I could tell, maybe there were some signs.”

Among managers, there is a careful balancing act between being meddlesome and respecting the clubhouse as the players’ sanctuary.

“It’s important that they police it among themselves, but it is also important that I understand, implement and hold them accountable to policies,” said Mike Shildt of the St. Louis Cardinals, the 2019 National League manager of the year. He added that he had had several casual conversations with his players and staff about rules and conduct since the Astros scandal but expected to hold a formal talk before the season began.

Manager Aaron Boone of the Yankees said recently that he did not feel the need to remind his players or staff about the rules because they already understood them. “Hopefully,” he said, “our culture is something that handles those kinds of things.”

Brian Cashman, the longtime Yankees general manager, said he had often told his employees to operate as if there were no secrets. “If anything is going on that isn’t above board, it’s going to come out,” he said. “That’s obviously why the Houston Astros are going through what they’re going through.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/24/sports/baseball/astros-cheating-scandal.html