Former Houston Astro Says If MLB Probes Sign Stealing by Other Teams 'They're Going to Find a Lot More Than They Want'
As the Houston Astros sign-stealing scandal from the 2017 season continues to be a point of discussion during the MLB's offseason, a former team member, Joe Musgrove, recently spoke on the issue, suggesting that the Astros were not the only team stealing signs.
"If MLB did an investigation as thorough as they did on the Astros with every team in baseball, they're going to find a lot more than they want to find," Musgrove said, according to Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
Joe Musgrove with an interesting quote on the Astros' sign-stealing mess: "If MLB did an investigation as thorough as they did on the Astros with every team in baseball, they’re going to find a lot more than they want to find."
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) February 11, 2020
Musgrove currently plays for the Pittsburgh Pirates as a starting pitcher but was a relief pitcher for the Astros during the 2017 season, when they won the World Series.
During the 2017 season, he said, the Astros noticed a few other teams trying to steal their opponents' pitching signs. "I think everyone just tries to get the upper hand," he added. "When you surround people with that much technology and you put it where it's that available and that accessible, at some point someone is going to take advantage of it."
Joe Musgrove said the 2017 Astros caught multiple teams trying to steal their signs, too. "When you surround people with that much technology and you put it where it’s that available and that accessible, at some point someone is going to take advantage of it."
— Jason Mackey (@JMackeyPG) February 11, 2020
Musgrove was speaking about the widely known Astros sign-stealing situation. The MLB discovered that during the 2017 season, the team used cameras, TVs and trash cans to relay opposing teams' signs to the Astros hitters. Following the league's investigation, the MLB commissioner said he would hold the team's managers accountable for the team's misconduct, which led to the Astros firing their head coach and general manager, A.J. Hinch and Jeff Luhnow.
As the investigation brought controversy to the Astros' 2017 season, a few additional reports emerged of other teams using similar sign-stealing methods, as Musgrove noted. In January, The Athletic published a story, citing three anonymous sources, saying that the Boston Red Sox electronically stole signs during the 2018 season, which ended with the team as World Series champions. The MLB is still investigating the Red Sox, but according to USA Today Sports, some officials involved in the investigation believe "that the Red Sox will receive no more than a light punishment."
Besides suggesting that other major league teams were guilty of sign stealing, Musgrove offered his opinion of the Astros' accomplishments during the 2017 season, including the World Series championship, in view of the team's cheating.
"I don't want to say it's tainted," Musgrove said. "But I think it is."
This differs greatly from a previous comment he made about the scandal. While speaking to CBS Sports in January, Musgrove said, "I don't think that taints [the championship season]."
