When Giancarlo Stanton laid into Jim Crane for suggesting Astros sign-stealing scandal did not affect competition on field
Giancarlo Stanton of the New York Yankees blasted Houston Astros owner Jim Crane in 2020 for claiming that his team's unlawful sign-stealing scheme may not have affected the competition on the field.
Before the 2018 season began, the Yankees acquired Stanton, who led the majors with 59 home runs in 2017 while playing for the Miami Marlins. That was the highest in the big leagues since 2001. However, Stanton claimed he could have hit more than 80 homers if he knew what pitches were coming his way, a reference to the Astros' sign-stealing scandal in 2017.
Stanton said:
"If I knew what [pitch] was coming in '17, I probably would have hit 80-plus home runs."
Stanton later clarified his comment, saying it "wasn't to make it about me."
"The point I was trying to make is that if I was part of that team and got the home run record doing that, there's no way that would be upheld and not have asterisks or taken away. So neither should their accolades, is what I was getting at with that."
Meanwhile, Astros owner Jim Crane suggested that the sign-stealing scandal may not have impacted results on the field.
"It could do that, it could not," he claimed.
Stanton, however, did not buy into Crane's comments:
"He knew. He knew. It would have been better if there was an apology or explanation on their side. We know that [the Astros] don't really care to give an apology or explain their side, and it showed by their response. As players, we know that. You know the repercussions of doing something like that, and you're only really sorry because you got caught."
Giancarlo Stanton felt that Astros' World Series victory should have been revoked
Stanton concurred with teammate Aaron Judge when he stated that the Astros' 2017 World Series victory should have been revoked and that players should have been disciplined by MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred.
"They did their investigation, and it was clean-cut that they cheated that year, which means it should be taken away. I mean, if you cheat in another way during the season, you can't even be in the playoffs, so therefore [you] would be eliminated. So it's pretty much the same -- same difference," Stanton said. "I don't think the penalties were harsh enough player-wise. I think that, at the end of the day, it gives more incentive to do that, if you're not going to punish the players that took part in it."
Stanton was given the highest total value contract in team sports history by the Marlins in November 2014; the deal was worth $325 million over 13 years.
He was dealt to the New York Yankees after the 2017 season.