MLB Will Not Strip Astros, Red Sox of World Series Title

MLB will not strip the Astros or Red Sox of their titles no matter what further evidence arises. Commissioner Rob Manfred announced as much on Wednesday, saying that he would uphold the "long tradition in baseball of not trying to change what happened."

"I think the answer from our perspective is to be transparent about what the investigation showed and let our fans make their own decision about what happened," Manfred told Fox Business Network. 

This initiative is similar to the league's oversight of the steroid scandal, which saw countless records preserved despite evidence that showed they could be tainted. 

It was Manfred's first public comments since releasing a report that detailed a systemic, illicit sign-stealing operation that the Houston Astros conducted throughout the 2017 season and parts of 2018. The investigation against the Boston Red Sox for similar allegations is still ongoing. 

"We haven't concluded our investigation with the Red Sox," Manfred said. "So it's a little hard to take the trophy away from somebody who hasn't yet been found to do something wrong. We don't know what the outcome of that's going to be."

Both Houston and Boston went on to win the World Series in the seasons they are alleged to have cheated. 

The interview also came one day after the Los Angeles city council approved a resolution advocating for the Astros and Red Sox to be stripped of their championships and for those trophies to be handed to the Dodgers. Manfred dismissed that notion in his interview.

"Whatever the impact of the sign stealing was, it could've changed who was in the World Series," Manfred said. "It's absolutely unclear if the Dodgers would've been the World Series champions."

As part of the report, the Commissioner punished a wide range of people for their role in the scheme—though, no active player was reprimanded. General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were suspended for a season and subsequently fired. The Astros were required to forfeit four draft picks and were issued a $5 million fine. Carlos Beltran was also relieved as head coach of the Mets as a result of his role, as a player, in the sign-stealing operation.

Manfred argued that the punishment against those involved was already enough to strongly discourage any other teams from cheating in the future. 

"Four really accomplished baseball people ... lost their jobs over this," Manfred said. "It's the kind of message that will serve as a deterrent to this type of behavior going forward."