MLB

A.J. Hinch can only joke about Astros’ sign-stealing case

SAN DIEGO — To lead off, A.J. Hinch went with a joke.

“I’m not sure I’ve ever been so popular,” the Astros manager quipped Tuesday, to about 40 reporters, at the winter meetings.

For sure, Hinch has never been so scrutinized. Of the 31 questions he received in his news conference, 18 covered the Astros’ electronic sign-stealing scandal that has galvanized the other 29 teams and sparked Major League Baseball to conduct a lengthy investigation. Which meant that Hinch, a strong candidate to start the 2020 campaign with a suspension, worked to find 18 different ways to not comment.

Just like his fellow managers and persons of interest Carlos Beltran of the Mets and Alex Cora of the Red Sox, Hinch dodged and ducked all queries about the allegations — voiced by pitcher Mike Fiers to The Athletic — that the 2017 Astros used illegal means to steal signs from opponents and help them win a championship. Beltran played for that club, while Cora served as Hinch’s bench coach.

“To address the elephant in the room, I’m happy to see all of you,” Hinch offered in introductory comments. “I know you’re all here for obvious reasons, and I have great respect for what you do. If I was in your shoes, I would be on the other side of this table, and I would want to ask questions and find answers and get some more information on the investigation and all the allegations and things like that.

“I know you’re probably expecting this, but I can’t comment on it. It is an ongoing investigation. What I can say is I’ve committed my time and energy to cooperate with MLB. I’ve talked to them a couple times, and we continue to work with them as they navigate the investigation, and now we’re waiting with everything in their hands.

A.J. Hinch
A.J. HinchAP

“So I know there’s still going to be questions. I hope there’s a day where I’m able to answer more questions, but I know today’s not that day. I know it will disappoint some people. It will not stop all of you from asking questions about it, but I can assure you I’m not going to answer questions about the ongoing investigation.”

A verdict from commissioner Rob Manfred is expected before spring training begins in February. The investigation also covers the Astros’ actions this past October in the wake of assistant general manager Brandon Taubman’s verbal targeting of a female reporter shortly after Jose Altuve’s home run vaulted Houston over the Yankees in American League Championship Series Game 6.

Hinch wouldn’t say how much time he had spent with MLB officials, getting no more specific than “a lot.” He wouldn’t entertain the notion of being sidelined for the start of next year, nor express any contrition for mocking the Yankees’ concerns about the Astros’ actions during the 2019 ALCS, nor comment in general about sign-stealing.

He did acknowledge, when asked whether this time has been stressful, “It’s not comfortable,” before pivoting to the “stress” of rebuilding the team’s roster with ace Gerrit Cole likely to depart via free agency and a handful of other players (catchers Robinson Chirinos and Martin Maldonado as well as pitchers Will Harris, Wade Miley and Joe Smith) on the open market as well.

The final investigation-related question covered Hinch’s reputation and relationships, and whether he felt either had been compromised.

“No, I’ve got great relationships in baseball,” he said. “I stand behind who I am and the relationships I have, the managers that I’ve spoken to, the players that I’ve spoken to, the GMs and presidents of baseball ops, assistant GMs, farm directors. This is a big deal here at the winter meetings, interacting with everybody, and I’ve got great relationships. I’ve been good.”

The bad, however, will be coming soon enough for Hinch, at which point jokes and no-comments don’t figure to come in handy.