Rob Manfred Regrets Decision to Grant Immunity to Astros Players in Cheating Probe

The fate of Houston players involved in the now-infamous sign-stealing scandal could have been very different.

The fate of Astros players may have been very different if Major League Baseball’s Rob Manfred was able to have a “do-over” in regards to Houston’s well documented sign-stealing cheating scandal.

Nearly three years after his investigation, MLB’s commissioner was shockingly candid during an interview with TIME magazine.

In the interview with Sean Gregory, Manfred was posed with the question of “What is one thing you wish you could do over?". Baseball's head man for the past decade included his handling of the Houston scandal. 

”There are some decisions that I would like to have back. There’s absolutely no question about that,” he said. “Some of the decisions surrounding the Houston situation, I would like to have those back. I mean, if I could take back the rather flip comment I made about the World Series trophy at one time, I’d take that one back. There have been times, particularly in times of pressure, when I look back, taking a little more time might have led to a different outcome.”

In regards to the Houston sign-stealing situation, Manfred’s biggest regret appears to involve his poor decision of awarding those players involved with immunity.

 “I’m not sure that I would have approached it with giving players immunity,” Manfred added. “Once we gave players immunity, it puts you in a box as to what exactly you were going to do in terms of punishment. I might have gone about the investigative process without that grant of immunity and see where it takes us. Starting with, ‘I’m not going to punish anybody,’ maybe not my best decision ever.”

In the end, Major League Baseball suspended Astros manager A.J. Hinch and general manager Jeff Luhnow for a year, stripping the club of its first-and second-round draft picks in both 2020 and ’21, while also fining the club $5 million.