Brian Cashman: Yankees Kept from World Series by ‘Illegal and Horrific’ Astros Action

Add New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman to the list of people still angry about the 2017 Houston Astros' cheating scandal. 

Speaking to The Athletic's Andy McCullough, Cashman blamed the Astros for the Yankees' ongoing World Series drought and called their actions during the American League Championship Series "illegal and horrific."

"So I get offended when I start hearing we haven't been to the World Series since '09," he said. "Because I’m like, 'Well, I think we actually did it the right way.' Pulled it down, brought it back up. Drafted well, traded well, developed well, signed well. The only thing that derailed us was a cheating circumstance that threw us off."

The Yankees, who made the postseason in 2017 as a wild-card team, lost to the Astros in seven games in the ALCS. 

There was speculation in the aftermath of Houston's World Series victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers that the team was doing something illegal. 

A November 2019 report by The Athletic's Ken Rosenthal and Evan Drellich that included details about electronic sign-stealing within Major League Baseball uncovered the extent of Houston's cheating.

Four people with the 2017 Astros, including pitcher Mike Fiers, told Rosenthal and Drellich that the team used a video camera positioned in center field to steal signs from opposing teams. 

The process began early in the 2017 season when "at least two uniformed" Astros players got together to plan a scheme that would allow them to get signs from opposing teams. 

"That's not playing the game the right way," said Fiers. "They were advanced and willing to go above and beyond to win."

Per Rosenthal and Drellich, the camera feed was hooked up to a television monitor that was on the wall steps near the home dugout. Team employees and players would watch the screen, decode signs and relay what pitch was coming "via a loud noise—specifically, banging on a trash can, which sat in the tunnel."

MLB fined the Astros organization $5 million, the maximum financial penalty allowed under league rules. The team also forfeited first- and second-round draft picks in 2020 and 2021.

General manager Jeff Luhnow and manager AJ Hinch were both suspended for the 2020 season. The Astros subsequently fired both men for their role in the scandal. No players were disciplined. 

The Boston Red Sox were also disciplined for a sign-stealing scandal during their championship season in 2018. They forfeited a 2020 second-round draft pick, and a video replay monitor was suspended for the entire 2020 season.

MLB determined Boston's scandal was "far more limited in scope and impact" than what the Astros did. 

The Yankees lost to the Red Sox in the American League Division Series in 2018. They haven't played in the World Series since beating the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 Fall Classic. 

New York has made the postseason every year since 2017. It hasn't advanced past the ALDS in each of the past two seasons. The Yankees and Astros met again in the playoffs in the 2019 ALCS, which Houston won in six games.