Astros owner: It was Manfred's decision not to suspend players, not mine

Houston Astros owner Jim Crane understands why the public is still upset over MLB's punishment handed down to the club for stealing signs electronically in 2017 - the year the team won the World Series - and parts of 2018.

"People are aggravated the players didn't get suspended," Crane said, according to Bob Nightengale of USA TODAY Sports. "But I didn't have anything to do with that. That was (commissioner) Rob (Manfred's) call. Listen, it's always going to be whatever you want to call it. A black mark. An asterisk. It happened. It’s not good for anybody. It's not good for the game.

"We broke the rules. We got penalized. We were punished. There's no doubt it weighs on all of us every single day."

Former Astros manager AJ Hinch and ex-general manager Jeff Luhnow were suspended and subsequently fired due to their roles in the sign-stealing scandal, while the team also lost its first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021, and received a $5-million fine. No players on the club received individual punishments after reportedly cooperating with league investigators.

Due to the apparent lack of justice, the baseball world erupted Wednesday when Los Angeles Dodgers reliever Joe Kelly was handed an eight-game ban for throwing behind Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa.

Crane also acknowledged that the Astros weren't the only team trying to steal signs to gain a competitive edge.

"I think (MLB) had a bigger problem than everybody realized," he said. "Two other teams (New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox) were doing things and got caught, but we're the ones who took the bullet. That's the way it works. I'm not trying to blame anyone else. It was our problem. We dealt with it."