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Major League Baseball announced punishment for the Houston Astros, including one-year suspensions for GM Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch, loss of draft picks in 2020 and 2021, and a $5 million fine, after an MLB investigation found the team used technology to cheat during its World Series-winning 2017 season. Luhnow and Hinch were subsequently fired by Astros owner Jim Crane.

ESPN.com's Bradford Doolittle, Jeff Passan and David Schoenfield break down the penalties, what they mean for the Astros and what impact Monday's punishment could have across the sport.

Just how harsh is this punishment compared with what was expected?

There was an awfully large range in the speculation, but unless you felt Jeff Luhnow and/or AJ Hinch might be subject to a permanent ban, the penalties are borderline shocking. That's true even when you factor in that part of Rob Manfred's thinking was related to the Brandon Taubman incident. A suspension of several weeks seemed likely, but a full year for the two most important members of a team's baseball operations group is stunning, almost unprecedented. (Leo Durocher, when he was a manager, was suspended for a year, but there was a gambling element to his situation.) You had to expect a loss of draft picks, but the top two picks for two years is stunning. The $5 million fine seems inconsequential by comparison to those penalties. It's clear Rob Manfred wanted to send a clear message to teams and fans alike. He has certainly done so. For that matter, so did Astros owner Jim Crane, who quickly moved to terminate Hinch and Luhnow. -- Doolittle

I don't think it's shocking it all. To steal from the NCAA, you can call it a loss of institutional control, and Luhnow, Hinch and the organization had to pay a severe penalty -- and Manfred certainly handed one down. For those arguing that using technology to steal signs is going on throughout the sport and that the Astros don't deserve to be punished for what everyone else also might be doing, I disagree. The Astros got caught and got caught doing it in a year they won the World Series. This is exactly how you tell an entire sport to knock it off. You go after the big boys and send a strong message that this will not be tolerated. It's time for baseball to return to a competition between players -- not a competition between technology. -- Schoenfield

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Originally posted by soflaac:
I've always been a casual fan of baseball, but I thought sign stealing was a bit of an arcane pursuit that most teams engaged in. Though taking it to the level the Astros did, the Series win should be stripped.

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:

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Originally posted by soflaac:
I've always been a casual fan of baseball, but I thought sign stealing was a bit of an arcane pursuit that most teams engaged in. Though taking it to the level the Astros did, the Series win should be stripped.

I agree. They cheated and were caught. They should’ve had their title taken away. I’m done with MLB after this.

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Originally posted by fpuhan:

??? MLB comes down hard on a team for cheating, the owner fires those responsible, and you're done with MLB? I don't get it.

The New England Patriots were caught doing the same thing, and I don't see Belichick getting fired, or Kraft getting his panties in a wad.

Seems to me MLB did what the NFL ought to.

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Originally posted by fpuhan:

??? MLB comes down hard on a team for cheating, the owner fires those responsible, and you're done with MLB? I don't get it.

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Originally posted by jhe888:

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Originally posted by fpuhan:

??? MLB comes down hard on a team for cheating, the owner fires those responsible, and you're done with MLB? I don't get it.

Not only does he want them drawn and quartered, he wants their bodies displayed in the public square.

These penalties are draconian, and I think they are excessive, so I think that believing that they should be even more severe is inexplicable.

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The scheme itself, Manfred wrote, began in 2017 and evolved throughout the course of the season. After initially using video-replay personnel to decode the opposing catcher's signs via a center-field camera and relaying the information to the bench via phone or text message, Cora "arranged for a video room technician to install a monitor displaying the center field camera feed immediately outside of the Astros' dugout," according to the report. Players watched the camera live and, upon decoding the sign, hit the trash can with a bat -- and sometimes a Theragun -- to signal to the hitter which pitch was coming. Initially, they had tried clapping, whistling or yelling, Manfred wrote, but players determined the trash can was the best use of relaying the sign.

While the banging scheme was discontinued before the 2018 season, Manfred wrote, "the Astros' replay review room staff continued, at least for part of the 2018 season, to decode signs using the live center field camera feed, and to transmit the signs to the dugout through in-person communication." That practice ended during the 2018 season when players believed it was no longer effective.

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Originally posted by PowerSurge:

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Originally posted by jhe888:

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Originally posted by fpuhan:

??? MLB comes down hard on a team for cheating, the owner fires those responsible, and you're done with MLB? I don't get it.

Not only does he want them drawn and quartered, he wants their bodies displayed in the public square.

These penalties are draconian, and I think they are excessive, so I think that believing that they should be even more severe is inexplicable.

You’re a great bloviator, jhe, I’ll give you that.

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Originally posted by smschulz:


As far as I am concerned any self-righteous asshole who calls it cheating is just a pussy.

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Originally posted by jhe888:

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Originally posted by fpuhan:

??? MLB comes down hard on a team for cheating, the owner fires those responsible, and you're done with MLB? I don't get it.

Not only does he want them drawn and quartered, he wants their bodies displayed in the public square.

These penalties are draconian, and I think they are excessive, so I think that believing that they should be even more severe is inexplicable.

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Originally posted by craigcpa:

So says the local...

Casual fan of baseball, but what’s in the public domain, well, is it really stealing?

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Originally posted by jhe888:


These penalties are draconian, and I think they are excessive, so I think that believing that they should be even more severe is inexplicable.